Off To Neverland
by ouatevilregal8
Summary: When he offered her salvation, to journey with him to this land where she could live for eternity, never grow old and maybe start anew, she wasn't sure why, but she said yes. But why? This journey would be certainly interesting for them. AU Hookedqueen set after Queen of Hearts Ep. Regina/Hook
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: Hello my dear Oncers and Captainqueen shippers. Here is but a beautiful AU story of our regal Queen and our scurvy Captain. Set after The Queen of Hearts episode in Season 2. What if Hook offered to take our dear Queen with him on his journey to Neverland? She chose to give up her plot for the curse and revenge and went with him. But why would she do that?**

**I hope you will enjoy this. The idea actually came from the image (cover image) I found. Please review and let me know whether or not continuing is a good idea. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of OUAT, though I would like to. ;)**

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He watched her as she approached the bow of the ship. Her long indigo dress made of smooth velvet and black diamonds shimmered in the light of the moon. Her ebony hair blew to her right in the light breeze of the night air, exposing the low cut of her dress and leaving the skin of her back bare. He watched her shiver from the cold chill of the air.

Approaching her slowly as she gazed onto the horizon at the new and mystical world, he wondered what she was thinking. "You alright, love?" He asked as he placed a woolen blanket over her shoulders.

Though in her mind she appreciated the gesture, she pushed the blanket off of her and stepped away from the man. She replied, "Don't put that old rag on me. I'm perfectly fine, Captain."

He saw that she was stubborn. She wanted to accept it; he could still see her still shivering. Picking it up from the wooden floor of the deck, he tried approaching her once more. He placed the blanket around her slowly, but this time held her shoulder with his hand so as to keep it upon her. He whispered, "There is no need to keep up such a façade, your Majesty. No one is here." His hand slid up and down her arm to warm her. "Just keep it on."

She stared at him as he walked back to the stern of the ship to steer. She was hesitant to follow him, so she decided to remain there for the moment and return to looking out onto the horizon. It was strange to think that she even agreed to do this with him. Just run off and leave her land, leave her life and her plans behind. But what was there truly to leave? She was miserable even though she was the Queen. The power wasn't everything she expected it to be. She killed the King and yet felt no satisfaction; she ran her stepdaughter out of the kingdom yet it still wasn't enough; she made a plan to enact this curse and bring them to a land without magic but at a price of her own soul; she even hired that man as an assassin to kill her own mother because she learned that love was weakness but all she felt was emptiness. When he offered her salvation, to journey with him to this land where she could live for eternity, never grow old and maybe start anew, she wasn't sure why, but she said yes.

Now, as she stared upon this new world, she wondered why she ever agreed. It wasn't like her to just give up on something; years of planning and working to gain power was now lost yet she felt no regret for it. Maybe it was just him. He was rather handsome and witty. She would say charming, but it reminded her far too much of that damn prince Snow White had married. Something about him though was intriguing, almost alluring to her. A pirate, yet a gentleman; it didn't seem like what she had heard about the stereotypical pirates in the land. Were they not supposed to be conniving and rude, drink far too much and have absolutely no hygiene? This Captain didn't seem to have that problem. There was something that was different about him and she couldn't help but want to dig to find out what that was.

She gracefully joined him by the stern. As she walked up the stairs, he noticed her. "I would have thought you journeyed to bed by now, love."

With a smirk and still holding the old blanket around her, she replied, "Afraid I'm still not used to all of this."

He laughed, "Not to worry, my dear. Your sea legs will come to you eventually. You just get used to it after a while." He glanced over to her as she leaned back upon the railing of the stern and simply watched him at the wheel. "Have you warmed up, love?"

She noticed that he had gestured to the blanket still wrapped around her. "I have, thank you." She stood up and approached the Captain. With a rather seductive voice, she said, "You are quite the gentleman."

"And that comes to you as a surprise?" He asked focusing on the waves ahead.

She shook her head. "Well I mean… for a pirate."

He snuffed at her comment, "There is much you don't know about me, love."

"Why not tell me then? Needless to say, I am not going to sleep any time soon." She smiled as he looked to her surprised.

No one had ever asked him about that before, not even his past love. This woman made the pirate rather curious. The way she didn't hesitate when he asked her to join him on his journey forced him to wonder. Why did he ask her along? It had been centuries since the incident with Milah and the boy. He had never asked other women to come with him; they had been just mere flings on his stops on land to satisfy his needs for some sort of feeling. But he had never even felt for this woman. Yes, there was clear attraction to her; she was beautiful, clever and devious beyond compare, but they had never _done_ anything. He had simply joined her for a drink, and now there she was standing beside him and asking him to tell her about himself.

"What would you care to know?" He found himself asking.

She looked him up and down; his short yet mangled hair, his stubble-covered chin, his dark leather vest and pants, the tough boot that make a clomping sound whenever he approached. Then she noticed the hook; it was probably the most intriguing part of him. She knew the basics of the story: Rumpelstiltskin was the one to cut off the hand and now the Captain was on a mission to enact his vengeance upon the evil imp, or _crocodile_ as he called him. That hunger for revenge just made her more attracted to this man. She wanted to know more.

Slowly walking to his other side, she trailed her finger down the Captain's arm seductively; curious of how he might react. He didn't flinch, however. She continued to trail down until she reached the silver hook wrapped around one of the notches of the wheel. She couldn't help feel chills as her fingers traced the cold metal. She stared down at it and asked him, "How did you even become a pirate, Captain?"

"My father." He answered bluntly.

Raising her brow, expecting more from him, she asked, "Care to elaborate?"

"Not particularly, no." He said straight forward as he turned the wheel two notches to port forcing her to take her hand off of his hook. He seemed just as stubborn as she.

Sighing with impatience, she walked back to the railing of the ship and leaned back on it. "Come along, Hook. Intrigue me a bit, won't you?"

Glaring over to her, he noticed that she was no longer wrapped in the woolen blanket. He could see the diamonds upon her slim dress shining in the moonlight once more. The velvet hugged her curves tightly around her waist and along her arms. It flowed narrowly down her legs with a deep slit along the right side. When she crossed her legs, he could see the bare skin of her thigh, though he tried best not to stare like a hungry animal. He stayed focused on her dark, soulless eyes. This was just a game to her. Her seduction won her everything every time, but he would try so hard not to let it get to him. If she could play dirty, so could he. "What makes you think that it is my place to amuse you, your Majesty?" He raised his brow.

With a little smirk of her blood-red lips, she replied, "As you said before, no else is here. And I am Queen after all."

He watched as she tapped her fingers on the railing. He was getting to her. Her seduction might have won once-and-a-while, but it was her impatience that would make her lose now. "You are no longer a Queen. And might I add, you were never _my_ Queen to begin with, love." He laughed at his minor triumph.

Raising her voice with an aggravated tone, she came back at him. "You asked me what I wished to know about you, did you not? Now why won't you tell me?"

The unscrupulous man laughed at the now frustrated woman. "Because it is oh so amusing to watch you so flustered, love."

She stood up and approached him. He could hear the anger through the clomping sounds of her heeled shoes. She sarcastically replied, "Well I'm so glad that I could amuse you, Captain."

The man laughed and looked at the young woman. She didn't seem as amused as he. Hands on her hips and tapping her foot incessantly, she waited for a response. However, he wanted to see how long she could really hold it. The two stared at one another, neither speaking. There was only the sound of her tapping foot accompanied by the wind and the crashing waves upon the boat. She suddenly turned and moaned angrily, "You are an impossible man!"

He laughed again. She did hold it longer than he expected, but nevertheless, he won the game. With an accomplished expression, he replied, "And you are a rather impatient lass, my lady."

"Idiot." She snuffed as she grabbed the woolen blanket and left the deck to go below.

The Captain continued to laugh to himself as the sound of her loud heels faded down below. _This should be an interesting journey_, he thought to himself. With the quiet sounds around him, the pirate finally felt at one with the sea. In the twilight of the night the Captain began to whistle as he saw the coast of where they were headed, Neverland.

0-0-0

"Might I ask what you are doing in my chambers, love?" He asked as he shut the door behind him with a kick of his boot. He noticed the woolen blanket sprawled on the bed along with the seductive indigo dress she had been wearing an hour ago.

She pulled back the sheets of the bed and said in a high-pitched voice, "You didn't expect me to sleep in one of those messily bunks with the rest of your men, did you?"

He stared at her expression; innocent yet not so innocent at the same time. He crossed his arms over his chest, raised his brow and replied, "And so you expect me, the _captain_ of this ship, to do so?"

"Why not?" She smiled. "Wouldn't a _proper_ gentleman allow the lady to rest in his bed comfortably?"

"Only if he could sleep beside her." He smirked. "Why, might I ask, are you wearing that?" He gestured to the long, white colonial looking shirt she had over her. It was most likely from his own drawers.

She looked down and inspected it. Hands on her hips, she responded deeply, "What else was I supposed to wear? You expect me to stalk around your ship in the nude?" With a sarcastic dip in her voice, she continued, "I'm sure you and your crew would love to see that."

"I'm sure."

"Keep dreaming." She snuffed.

"You brought it up, love. Not I." He smirked with a raised brow. He couldn't help but watch as the woman leaned over the bed allowing the shirt to ride up and expose her thighs. The shirt, though long for a shirt, was not as long as a nightgown that a lady would normally wear. As she reached over to the other side of the bed and pulled the sheet down, the Captain stared at her bare skin trailing his eyes from her dainty feet to her luscious thighs.

"So much for _gentleman_." He heard her say.

Suddenly focusing his gaze back to her face, he noticed that she was giving him a pretty stern look. How long had she known that he was staring? With a smirk on his face and some slight embarrassment, which he refused to actually show or admit, the pirate commented, "Well it wasn't like you were being discreet about it, love."

The woman climbed into the bed and covered her bare legs with the sheets and woolen blanket. She stared at the man who was still looking towards her with a blank expression. She raised her brow and with attitude said, "You may go now."

"Excuse me?" He said feeling insulted.

"Do I have to spell it out for you, Captain? Leave." She flicked her wrists towards the door in a stuck up manner.

Frustration and rage built up within the pirate. It would have been so easy to just strike her down or throw her out; it was his ship after all. But something made him stop. With an understandable nod of his head, he turned to the open the door. He listened to the creaking sounds of the floorboards as he walked and the squeak of the door as he opened it just enough for him to slide out. He turned back to her and said sincerely, "Then goodnight, my lady. We should be reaching land by morning." With that, he left the room.

She stared at the door for a moment, surprised that he hadn't argued more. She didn't exactly understand why she enjoyed this so much. Perhaps it was just a way for her to cope with her decision or to bond with… someone. The relationship was quite strange, but it wasn't unbearable yet.

She tucked herself further underneath the covers and blew out the single candle that had been brightening the room. Darkness overcame the entire room and all she saw was black. She rested her head upon the pillow and pulled the woolen blanket he had wrapped around her earlier. Taking a deep inhale, she could smell him through the scent of the pillow and the blanket. Though she was alone, she somehow felt like someone was with her. Maybe that was why she chose to leave it all behind. What good would her new life have been if she had no one to share it with?

She closed her eyes slowly and drifted to sleep with the smell and warmth of a man, that man, the pirate. She might never show it to him, but she was more than happy to be there on that ship and with him, though he was a rather irritating man. But it was better to be with him than to be alone.

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**Please review to tell me what you think and whether or not I should continue. Thank you for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Thank you so much for all of the follows and reviews! I am very excited to present the next chapter of Off To Neverland. I hope you will all enjoy and leave some more marvelous reviews! **

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The noises from above suddenly awoke her from her peaceful slumber. _Hoist the sail!_ She heard a crewmember say. _Aye!_ Another replied. Her eyes opened unwillingly and were still drowsy from her deep slumber. How long had she slept? Sitting up in the bed, she rolled her head and stretched while listening to the loud yelling and clomping of the shoes from the deck above.

Remembering that she was no long in her palace, she glanced around to familiarize herself with the surroundings. She needed to make sure that what had really happened the day before was real. Waking up here only showed that it was. She felt around the bed with her hands. The bed had been surprisingly more comfortable that she'd expected. It was not much different from the one in her palace; however, it was clearly smaller.

She looked down at what she was wearing. The whiteness of the puffed shirt made her smirk. It was probably the lightest colored thing she had ever worn in years. It had felt rather comfortable and roomy as she slept. It was nothing like those tight and breathless nightgowns she used to wear. Why she ever wore them, she couldn't recall. Comfort was not her priority as the Queen. Being presentable to the kingdom, even when asleep was her aim. But, truly, how well had that worked out for her? She may have looked presentable, but her nice clothes would never make them love her.

She gave a long exhale before standing. Feeling a sudden urge of dizziness, she sat back on the bed realizing that she was still on a _moving_ ship. The rocking made her unsteady as she tried to stand again, this time, bracing herself on the little table beside the bed. She turned around to remake the bed by pulling up the sheets and blankets neatly. She wondered with a smile on her face if maybe this was the right decision; maybe today would be a good day. However, the smile faded as she came to realization that something in the room was missing.

She glanced to where she had left it the night before, but it was not there. Maybe she had kicked it off of the bed in the middle of the night. She walked to the other side of the bed and checked on the floor; it was not there either. She began to check the drawers and compartments, but there was nothing. Anger began to ensue as she became more and more aggravated. "Where the hell is it?" She mumbled to herself while looking through the chest at the foot of the bed. It was not there either.

She looked up at the ceiling as she heard the distinct and rhythmic steps of his feet. His steps sounded confident and sturdier, like he had accomplished something. She knew he had something to do with this. Grabbing the woolen blanket that she had been clutching throughout the night and wrapping it around her body to cover up, she marched up the stairs and onto the deck.

"Hook!" She yelled with rage. "Where the hell is it?" She marched up the steps to the stern of the ship where the Captain steered with pride, accompanied by his first mate Mr. Smee. The crew stared at the woman, wrapped in the woolen blanket. It made them whisper as she swiftly approached the Captain. They dared not speak too loud so as not to be heard and forced to walk the plank. But, it did seem rather strange.

"So glad you could dress for the occasion, your Majesty." The Captain smirked as she approached him with furious eyes.

"Don't you start playing games with me, pirate. Now, where is it?" She glared viciously.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you are referring to, love." He glanced back out on the horizon and turned the wheel two notches towards port.

"My gown." Her voice deepened with impatience.

"What about it, love?" He enjoyed playing this game with her. Testing her patience was almost becoming a pastime for him, especially now that she didn't know how to use magic in Neverland. He had nothing to fear from her.

"Where the hell is it?" She yelled.

"I'm afraid I don't know."

"You're lying."

"How is it that you have nothing else to wear?" The pirate asked becoming annoyed with the woman.

"It's not like I had time to pack a bag when you asked me to come along with you." She said agitated as well.

"Well I'm afraid that's not my problem, love."

"Don't test me, pirate. I know you or someone from your crew took it. I'm sick of this little game you're playing with me."

Mr. Smee watched attentively as the two bickered back and forth. He wondered whether or not to intervene. He quietly began to raise his voice. "Perhaps, I could offer a solution."

"No!" The Captain and Queen replied sternly in unison.

The first mate bowed his head in silence and remained invisible as they continued. It was not usual of him to act this way, but this woman made him undoubtedly nervous. He continued to ask his Captain why he had brought her along. She was no assistance to the crew in any way. It was more likely that she would be a distraction with the strong demanding presence that she gave off. However, the Captain was still in charge and, though he was allowed to protest, his words could only try to persuade the Captain, not make the decision.

The woman returned her gaze upon the pirate captain, "Give it back to me or else-"

"Or else what?" He smiled, intrigued by her attempt at a threat.

"God! If I could kill you right now, I would!" She gritted her teeth and turned to look away from him in aggravation.

He laughed, "And what's stopping you, love?" He glanced at her as she turned away.

She shrugged her shoulders and wondered. What _was_ truly stopping her from killing him? She could have killed him many times before, even without magic. Perhaps… she thought. "Because you are still of use to me, Captain." She turned and smirked deviously.

"What an honor…" He replied smugly. "So what are you to do to me if I do not return your precious gown, my lady?"

With a glare and a forming smirk, she replied, "Make you suffer."

"And how do you plan to do that?" He raised his brow in a curious yet unbelieving manner.

Gracefully stepping down the steps with her bare feet, she glanced back at him. "Oh, I have my ways, Captain." With a smile and a glare with cunning brown eyes, she suddenly dropped the woolen blanket wrapped around her body and exposed herself wearing nothing but the Captain's white shirt. If that wouldn't ruin his reputation as Captain, what would? She walked down the steps seductively; receiving countless whistles and hollers from the rather hungry-eyed crew aboard the ship. She moved around the ship casually and soon sat at the bow with her legs crossed just to watch the men at work and obviously to get a good look at the Captain's reaction.

As time passed, more and more of the Captain's men would drift away from the alluring spell she was putting on them. They would approach her asking if she needed things, asking questions, or just staring at her. He and Mr. Smee watched this. Hook's eyes never left that woman; they were filled with both anger and yet a hint of tension between them. She was winning this round of the game.

Mr. Smee glanced to Hook. "Captain, what is with you two?"

"What are you referring to, Mr. Smee?" He continued to stare at her furiously while his hand clutched the wheel tightly.

Mr. Smee looked over and the woman surrounded by the crew and then back at the Captain. With his brow raised, he replied, "I think you know very well, Captain."

"Mr. Smee, stop wasting my time and just say it." He was becoming agitated.

Mr. Smee swallowed with a bit of hesitation. "Are you not sleeping with her Majesty?"

"Are you daft, mate?" Hook glared at him with astonishment.

"Why else would you ask her to come here with the crew? How else do you constantly bear with this?" He gestured referring to the entirety of the crew now surrounding the Queen and serving her every want and need. The first mate looked back to Hook and continued, "It also doesn't help much for your reputation that she is prancing around in nothing but one of _your_ nightshirts, Captain."

"Let me assure you, Mr. Smee, in no possible uncertainty, that I am or ever will have relations with that woman. She is the last bloody woman I would ever imagine tolerating, never mind having a relation with. She is nothing more than an infuriating, wicked, devious, beautiful woman."

"Beautiful, Captain?" Smee noticed the sudden slip in the Captain's words.

Hook quickly thought of another word. A bit flustered, he replied, "Unbearable, Mr. Smee. I said unbearable. Your hearing must be fading."

With a roll of his eyes, the man replied, "My hearing is perfectly fine, Captain. I know what I heard."

"You know nothing, Mr. Smee." Hook said with aggravation. "Now get back to work before I throw you to the mermaids."

The man bowed his head. "Aye, Captain." In his mind, he knew he was right. Why else would the Captain have sent him away? He knew that Hook would realize it eventually, but his stubborn nature would delay it.

0-0-0

Angered at how she was hypnotizing his crew, Hook marched down from the stern and finally pushed through the crowed of men around her. "Get back to work, mates! This isn't a bloody brothel!" He looked the Queen up and down where she sat. "Well, by the way you're dressed… it might be."

With a wicked glare from the remark, she replied. "I told you that I had my ways, Hook. Don't ever underestimate me."

With a sudden aggravation, he grabbed her by the arm and led her down below. "I don't know what the hell your bloody problem is Regina, but I've had enough. This is _my_ ship and _my_ crew."

"Well then you might want to keep a tighter leash around here, because they don't seem to listen to you, dear." She commented snidely followed by a giggle.

"I'm not the problem here, love. You are." He said as he roughly tossed her into his bedchamber and slammed the door shut.

"Oh, getting rough now. Are we?" She said with intrigue and a playful expression. Hook did not smirk; he was far too angered to find this amusing. "What is wrong, Captain? Mad because you aren't winning now?" She said with a babying voice to humiliate him.

The Captain hesitated to do it, but nevertheless he felt he had to. He walked up to the chest at the end of the bed and opened it. He suddenly tossed an old brown dress at the woman. "Wear that." Was all he demanded.

"What the hell is this?" She asked holding it up to her. It didn't seem so bad. Clearly, it wasn't her gown, but it wasn't like she'd be wearing a potato sack either. It was pleasant enough with its leather vest and cotton skirt. It reminded her of the things she would wear when she was younger.

The Captain opened the door and turned back to glance at her as she held it up to her figure. He couldn't help but cringe at the hurtful memory. He answered, "It belonged to someone a long time ago."

"Who?" She asked intrigued.

"That is not important. She has been long gone for some time." He turned and shut the door. He no longer seemed angered; rather, he was more sorrowful and hurt as he left.

As she slipped out of the Captain's comfortable nightshirt and put on the underdress, Regina began to think about the man's reaction. It didn't seem like him to not fight back. Perhaps… she wondered… maybe she had brought something quite personal up from his past. The real question was… would he ever have the nerve to tell her? It wasn't like the two would soon hop out of their initial stubborn characters and blurt out the sorrows of their pasts. Yet, it seemed to be all she thought about; all that she wanted to know, but also something that she knew she couldn't find out if they continued with those mind games of constant sarcasm. Those games were ways to communicate without showing that emotion or vulnerability within them. But how long could that truly last? How long would they want it to last?

She tied the laces of the vest in the front and slid on a pair of narrow boots. It was strange how it all fit her perfectly. She brushed the wrinkles out of the skirt before returning to the deck more presentable than before. She heard no whistles from the crew nor hollers a she stepped back up towards the stern where the Captain was standing.

She stood before him with her hands upon her hips. "Well, Captain, do I look more presentable for you now?" She asked with attitude.

Her deep voice made him turn his head to look at her. He could only glance for a moment before turning away. How she appeared was far too similar. It may have been years ago, but still it hurt him to see this other woman now wearing her clothes. "It's fine, love." He replied monotonously.

"You haven't even looked at me." She tilted her head slightly in annoyance.

"And for good reason. I said you look fine. What should it matter anyhow? Neverland is not a place you should care about keeping your looks. There is no need to impress anyone here, love."

Regina glared at him. "There is something else you're not telling me. These garments. Whom did they belong to?" The Captain refused to answer her. She watched his stubborn expression as he turned the wheel and sighed. "Captain?" She asked again a bit louder.

His first mate, Mr. Smee turned to her and replied, "They belonged to his past love."

"Smee." Hook warned in a deep tone.

"Her name was Milah." He continued. As the man continued to explain the story of the Captain's true love many years ago, Regina couldn't help but stare not at the man who had been talking, but the man who it affected most. She watched as he tried to hold himself together as Smee described how she had died. Regina could tell in his expression that this hurt him every time he'd think about it, but hearing it made it all the more painful. She watched his grip tighten upon the notch of the wheel as the man told her how Rumplestiltskin tied the Captain down and forced him to watch as he ripped out her heart and crushed it in front of him.

"Mr. Smee!" He yelled. The little man jumped as was scorned. He said nothing, knowing that he had gone to far. "I suggest you make yourself scarce."

"Aye, Captain." The man did not hesitate to scurry away, leaving the Captain and woman standing alone with no words.

Regina had figured it out; she had learned about a piece of his past. Granted, now he would probably never tell her anything. He would only become more stubborn and rude. Before she could reply with any sort of comment, whether snide or calming, the Captain, without even looking at her, swiftly disappeared into the bunk where his study was held. Though she felt it would be interesting to follow him and watch his reaction, something held her back. She knew that feeling, that feeling of being reminded of a hurtful past. It almost made her shiver to think. This was not something she would want to be reminded of. So, though she did enjoy making these games, this was the one time when she would back down and leave the Captain be.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Oh my goodness! ****Thank you so much for all of the follows and reviews again! I love that you are enjoying this story! So here is chapter 3 of Off To Neverland. I hope you will all enjoy and leave some more amazing reviews! I have to say I absolutely loved writing this chapter!**

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He stared upon her picture; God only knows for how long. She had been so beautiful, so graceful, so kind and lively, and loving above all. It is not easy for one to love a pirate as she did; it's even harder to make that pirate love back. Pirates are stubborn and tough men. Normally, they possess difficult pasts that make them the way they are. Something in their lives made them want to escape the world on land and travel the seas away from the wickedness of people. But, most people who didn't understand the lives of pirates, assumed them to be no more than rude scoundrels who did nothing but thieve and drink through their nights. Milah never believed that, which was probably what made it so easy for the Captain to love her.

After that moment, after seeing her die that way, he did vow to avenge her death. But he also promised her that he would never fall in love again. Losing love as he had lost her was far too unbearable to go through again. He would lock his heart up and never let it out for another. At least, that's what he wanted to do. But this other woman; this infuriating and evil woman that he had, for some strange reason, invited to join on their journey, was getting to him. She was mysterious and fiery. Wear the clothing of his past love, she reminded him of her, but with far more attitude and bravery above all else.

At the sudden shift of thought from Milah to Regina, Hook heard the sound of knocking on the door to his Captain's Quarters. Standing up, he looked to the door and answered, "What?"

"Captain?" He heard her voice. It seemed a bit lighter and airier than usual. She walked through the door, shutting it behind her. He couldn't help but stare at her long ebony hair flowing down her back, only slightly tangled from the night's sleep. She looked so different in Milah's clothes. Not as… intimidating as she once was. Granted, she may not like that, but he felt that he could really see her now. No wild hairstyle, or tight gowns of dark colors, ridiculous shoes, and eyes covered in far too much make up. He could see her face, light and sweet; her dark eyes were no longer viciously black but rather a beautiful, innocent brown.

She stepped further into the room but hesitated to ask him. He stared at her eyes, sat back down casually and said, "Well get on with it, love. Or did you just come to stare at me?"

Her voice deepened and the attitude returned. "You could only wish. No." She walked closer to his desk and pressed her palms, leaning forward. "I wanted to see if you were alright." Leaning back in his chair, the Captain raised is brow in disbelief. "What?" She stepped back curiously.

"It doesn't seem to be in your nature to feel concern for another person, love." He replied as he fiddled his fingers along his hook.

"There's much you don't know about me, Captain. I suggest you learn to control your prejudices." She placed her hands upon her hips as always, signaling that she would soon become defensive if he said the wrong thing.

"As you have done so kindly for me, your Majesty?" He asked in a blunt tone.

"I _have_ done my best to do so, Captain. I assure you."

Suddenly standing once again, the Captain raised his voice, "That is a bloody lie and you know it! You have done nothing in the passed two days to prove that to me in any possible way! You are rude and vindictive and-"

"If you have such a burning desire to hate me, Captain, then why the hell did you ask me to join you?" She interrupted his rant.

"Because I felt sorry for you!" He blurted out suddenly, slamming his hand upon the desk and brutally carving a dent into the wood with his hook.

He stared at Regina's expression. There was no anger in her eyes as there usually was. There was silence. He waited and waited for her to yell out a crueler response, but she only stared at him. She looked like a young child who had just been scolded by her mother. Her hands were no longer placed defensively on her hips; one hand rested upon her stomach feeling her breath shorten as she felt she was about to let the tears fall upon her face. She gripped it tightly as if hoping that it would prevent her from showing him that vulnerability. The other hand hung limply beside her waist; in the event of the shock, she felt as if she couldn't move it.

As his expression softened apologetically, he could not say a word. She turned and ran out of the quarters before he could utter a single thing. Angered at himself for saying something so stupid, yet true, he slammed his hand down again. This time, his hook landed directly upon the picture with the face of his passed love. A single rip in the parchment appeared upon the woman's drawn face. He folded it up and placed it in a compartment within his desk. He stared upon the door, hoping that she might return, that he could simply turn back time and refrain from saying that to her. But she did not. He sat there for a few more moments thinking before he finally got up and returned to the deck to find her.

0-0-0

She stood at the bow and stared out on the horizon. She crossed her arms over her chest as she felt the chill of the wind. Hugging her self tightly, she felt that it might protect her, not just from the cold but also from everything. It was like a defense mechanism. When she crossed her arms over her chest, no one could get into her heart. Well, she could only hope that no one could. With enough digging and prying, anyone could get in. But then she would only hug them tighter to her chest and close her heart away even tighter than before. It's how she had always been.

The feel of the breeze made her close her eyes and imagine that moment from the night before. She felt the touch of his hand as he placed the woolen blanket around her shoulders. She felt the warmth not only of the blanket, but of him as well. She remembered his single touch and how comforting it felt to her. She remembered the coldness of his hook as she slid her fingers to trace the metal wrapped around the notch of the wheel.

Regina could hear music, softly playing like a gentle and calming flute. She opened her eyes as the music became louder in her ears as the wind blew harder, making her hair blow to the left side of her face. It was so entrancing, so beautiful, she felt as if it was beckoning her. She looked around at the rest of the crew; they didn't seem so mesmerized by it. Did they even hear it?

She glanced around, trying to find the source. She needed to know where this enchanting music was coming from. It was like a monster eating away at her soul; it was luring her in and she couldn't stop until she found it. She glanced over the railing of the bow and stared down at the waves. The gentle music grew louder in her head as she watched the waves crash upon the ship. Was it coming from the water?

Regina leaned over the railing further. It seemed as if no one in the crew noticed what she was doing. How were they not curious to see where the music was coming from? As she stared at the waves she noticed her. Was there a woman in the water? No, it couldn't be. She squinted her eyes and noticed… fins. Regina tilted her head in confusion as the woman appeared in the water. Her eyes were a dark green as the seaweed strands in her light blonde hair. She was beautiful with pale skin that gleamed in the light of the sun.

The woman began to sing to the Queen along with the music. The dark green of her eyes and the song seemed to put Regina into a trance. All she wanted to do was get closer to the music. She felt her body leaning further and further out. Regina heard the sound of a voice yelling her name. _Regina!_ The man sounded panicked, but it faded quickly as the music only increased. _Regina, stop! _It sounded like a whisper by now. The music was far too strong to stop her.

With her body halfway over the edge of railing, Hook's eyes widened as Regina was suddenly grabbed at the shoulders and pulled into the rough waves. He ran as quickly as he could to where she once stood and looked down into the waves. The mermaid had dragged her underneath. "Regina!" He yelled. With no hesitation, he stepped upon the ledge and looked over to his first mate. "Mr. Smee! You know what to do." He nodded to the man before suddenly diving into the sea to go after her.

0-0-0

She could still hear the music as the pressure of the sea increased. The creature dragged her down further and further; Regina could feel that it was getting harder to hold her breath. But something about the music made her resist from struggling. She allowed the creature to pull her deeper into the sea. The weight of the water was becoming far too heavy and the lack of air was causing her to fall into unconsciousness. Her eyes began to blur. She saw something swimming towards her before her eyes shut. She couldn't see from the gleaming of the sunlight, but something made her wonder. Was it him? But all went black.

Hook swam deeper into the water. He watched Regina's eyes closed as she fell into unconsciousness. If he wanted to save her, he would need to hurry. He felt a rush of adrenaline pumping through his veins as he began to swim faster to catch up to the woman and the wretched mermaid. Grabbing at the mermaid's arm, he stabbed his hook into her fin causing a loud and unbearable screech. It was inhuman, he thought; like the sound of a siren's scream. But it hadn't made her let go of Regina. It only angered the creature more. It's eyes were no longer green but a blood red, and it possessed vicious fangs. Hook didn't pause in fear of the creature though; he took his bloodied hook and stabbed the creature once more, making it screech again in pain.

Suddenly, it let go of the Queen and grabbed the collars of the Captain's shirt in fury. He watched as Regina was left floating unconscious in the water. His only concern was getting her to safety. Struggling with the mermaid, Hook felt that he was done with this persistent creature. He tugged back on it's light, almost white, hair and plunged his hook into its chest. He watched its eyes change back to its original green aura. His hand brushed along its skin before he let it sink to the bottom of the sea; it was colder than ice and almost as hard as stone. The cold, dead eyes pierced through him. He would always remember that look.

Hook suddenly remembered the urgency in which he needed to get Regina back onto the ship. He didn't pause a moment as he swam to her and took her in his arm. He held her close as he swam to the surface, gasping for breath. He stared at her face; she was still unconscious and not breathing.

The crew pulled them back up to the ship. Hook coughed for a moment as he let go of Regina. She lied on her back, pale and cold. He could tell that she still wasn't breathing. Soaking wet, the Captain crawled to her freezing, limp body. "Regina." He whispered still out of breath. He cupped her cheek in his hand and felt the coldness of her skin. "Come on, love, don't die on me." He said as he slapped at her face lightly trying to wake her.

He tilted her head back and opened her mouth. Leaning forward, he tried to blow the life right back into her. The first time there was no response. He pumped his hand onto her heart, and tried again, but still nothing. He wouldn't stop though; he couldn't give up. He whispered to her as he stared upon her pale white face, "I'm not going to lose you too." He blew air into her mouth for the third time, praying that she would breath. The long breath soon became more as he felt her lips upon his.

Suddenly, Regina awoke gasping for breath and coughing up sea water. Hook felt his heart stop as he watched her eyes shoot open and listened to her breathing. She rolled towards him and spit out the rest of the water from her lungs. Hook placed his hand upon her shoulder and beckoned one of the crewmates for a blanket. They handed him the woolen blanket and he wrapped it around her shoulders just as he had that night before. She looked up at him with fearful eyes and shivered from the wetness and the cold air. She knew that he had saved her; he could see it in her eyes.

He watched as she suddenly fell out of her normal character and began to sob from the shock of it all. The Captain pulled her into his chest and held her head as she cried uncontrollably, not understanding what had just happened. He looked up at the crewmen who were staring in disbelief as the Queen cried more vulnerably than she ever had. He knew that this had been traumatizing for her and having the rest of the men stare as she broke down would not help in the least.

Hook moved around her, slid his left arm beneath her knees and placed the other around her upper torso. He picked her up slowly, letting her wrap her arms around his neck and bury her head into his chest. He carried her down below to his bedchamber, kicked the door open and carried her to the bed. He set her down gently and let her rest her head on the pillow. Still wrapped in the blanket, she had stopped sobbing. But he could tell that she was still scared. He watched her shiver beneath the blanket.

As he stepped away, she turned to him and begged with a weak voice that he had never heard from her, "Please. Don't leave." It was a much lighter tone yet still deep as it always was; it was like a whisper.

He looked back at her. "I won't, love. I'm just getting you something dry to wear." He said with modesty. Hook leaned over and opened the chest at the end of the bed and pulled out another dress. He was not so hesitant to place it on the bed for her, as he was when he gave her the first dress. She glanced at him with hopeless eyes as he put the tan dress at the foot of the bed. He looked to her with a smile. "You should change into this, love. Before the chill makes you ill."

She nodded her head slightly and sat up carefully. She watched as he walked to the door. "Wait. You said you wouldn't go."

"Only for a moment, love. You need to change. As do I. I shall be back shortly."

He opened the door and looked back as she beckoned, "Captain?" She stared at him with sincerity in her dark eyes and a slight smile on her blue lips. "Thank you."

Hook nodded and closed the door behind him. He leaned back and rested his weight upon the door. He shut his eyes and sighed. Had she felt it? When his blowing air into her mouth had soon become a kiss to her lips? He shook his head to snap himself out of it. No, she couldn't have known; she was on the verge of death, unconscious and not breathing. She just couldn't.

Regina stood and walked to the door to lock it. Her hand pressed against the door as she heard the click of the lock, she then rested her forehead on the door. What had she done? She had sobbed in his arms like a weak child. She had shown him her fear and weakness. Did he know? Could he see it in her eyes when she asked him not to leave her? No, he couldn't have. He must have just thought it was the shock; he couldn't know how she felt.

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**Please let me know what you thought! I loved writing the suspense of this chapter! Neverland is just fun to write. And with these two characters, well, it's just a blast!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: I am so glad that you like this fic! So I've decided to give you a fun twist. Enjoy and review to let me know what you think about it!**

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She could feel herself about the let the tears fall down her cheeks once more. _No, Regina. _She thought._ He's already seen you like this. You can't let him see it again_. She was scared; the shock of everything remained inside of her, but she couldn't let it out. It was who she was; she didn't show her fear no matter what happened.

Regina backed away from the door and took a deep breath. Closing her eyes, she collected herself with a few more deep breaths. She held her hands to her stomach as she breathed; she felt as if she was going to throw up from the shock of it all. Once she was calmed, Regina began to remove the soaked clothing and put on the second dress that the Captain had placed out for her. She was starting to like these quaint clothes; the dress was a tan color that flowed down from her upper torso. The sleeves of the arms flowed down like wings almost. Like the first dress, this one also fit perfectly on the Queen. She looked down at how it fell upon her body and smiled slightly.

At a sudden knock, Regina looked up with surprise. She walked to the door, but hesitated for a moment to unlock it for the pirate. She gave a deep exhale, unlocked the door and opened it. He stood erect in front of her also possessing a new set of clothing. He had new pair of black pants and boots accompanied by a white colonial shirt similar to the one she had worn to bed that evening before. He seemed much lighter in the shirt without his usual leather vest. As he entered the room, Regina backed up to let him through the doorway. A second man entered, took Regina's wet garments and dismissed himself quickly.

"Well, love," Hook gazed upon her figure and then moved his eyes to look at her face. "You seem to be recovering quickly. The color is returning in your cheeks and lips." He wished to reach forward and touch those lips with the nub of his thumb or to gently caress her cheek with his hand, but he restrained his desire.

She remained silent and nodded her head twice in agreement before turning and walking to sit on the side of the bed. Hook could tell that she was hesitant towards him all-of-a-sudden. He walked to stand beside her as she sat and asked her, "Love, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She said deeply returning back to her more angered tone of voice. Her eyes remained entranced on the floor refusing to look at him or his expression.

He could see how she wished to distance herself from him. The positioning of her eyes upon the floor, her stiff body movements and her deep tone of voice showed that she was hiding from her true feelings. "First you ask me not to leave you and now you refuse to even look at me. That does not seem to qualify as _fine_, love."

"Will you _stop _calling me that?" She finally looked up at him. "I have a name." She stood up and walked passed him. She crossed her arms in defense.

He turned to face her, but her back was toward him. "My apologies. I didn't know it bothered you so much."

"Well it does." She replied bluntly. Hook approached Regina slowly from behind. All he wished to do was comfort her and calm her, but at his touch she flinched instantly, turned and stepped away from him. "Don't _touch_ me, you filthy pirate!" She exclaimed with anger as she also slapped his hand away.

"What is your bloody problem, Regina?" Hook asked beginning to get frustrated with her sudden change in mood. "Why are you acting like this?"

"I am not acting like anything, Captain. This is who I am." She spat back with confidence.

"No, this is not. I've seen who you truly are only moments ago before I left this room."

"That was not who I am."

"Yes it was, Regina. Stop pretending." He took a step closer to her.

Regina tried stepping back but hit the closed door as she replied, still confidently, "I'm not pretending."

Hook took another step closer to her. Their bodies were practically touching as Regina felt herself cornered at the door. He leaned forward with a vicious smirk on his face and whispered, "There is nothing wrong with feeling scared… love."

Regina swallowed nervously as she felt the pirate so close to her that his hot breath hit her face as he whispered. But she kept on her act and did not back down. "I told you not to call me that." She said fiercely.

"What are you going to do about it… love?" He smiled as he antagonized her. Their faces remained only inches away, but neither flinched a single muscle. His blue eyes stared into hers with pleasure as he tried to make her cringe. A sudden bang on the door as Hook slammed his hand upon the door made the woman jump. He laughed at his accomplishment, leaned further in and whispered into her right ear, "I need to get to the door, love."

Regina didn't want to move at all. It would prove that he had won; it would show him that he was right in saying that it was all just an act and that she was scared; it would show him who she truly was. The true question was, did she want him to know who she truly was? No. She was far beyond stubborn, possibly more than he was. There was no way that she would do such a thing. "I'm not moving."

"Then what do you propose I do, love?"

She leaned forward and whispered in his ear as he had just done to her, "You'll have to make me."

"Regina, you know I have no problem doing such a thing, but I would prefer to be a gentleman. I'll ask you kindly once more. Get out of the way."

Stares and smirks ensued between the two. She looked him up and down slowly before stepping aside. He opened the door without hesitation. The door slammed behind him, making her jump once again. Suddenly, though, her devious smirk disappeared. She was alone again. She may have been able to hide it from him, but she still felt it, the pain and fear. She knew that if she just kept bottling it all up, she would soon burst. Was it really worth it? Not showing him who she was, what she felt? Constantly playing these pointless games and bickering at one another back and forth? That's all it would ever be until the tension between them would finally push them to just kill each other. All of these thoughts raced, but what would it really change in her? She would not so easily give her heart away again. Maybe she would never do so.

The thoughts disappeared at the sound of the first mate announcing that they were about to go to shore. Regina shook her head to rid of her thoughts, took a deep breath and returned to the upper deck.

0-0-0

"Captain!" Regina yelled out over the railing as she watched the Hook and the crew begin to file off of the ship and onto smaller lifeboats. "What are we doing?"

"I thought that was obvious when Mr. Smee yelled out _land_, love. We are going to shore." Hook smirked up at the Queen.

"Don't you go sneering at me like that, Hook. I know we are going to shore. But why?" She replied with an irritated expression towards the intolerable man.

"Why not, love?" He shouted back as he sat down in the lifeboat. "Now come along before I change my mind about bringing you."

Regina sighed and pursed her lips in aggravation. She shook her head before taking a hold of the rope ladder and climbed down to the boat. All the way down she mumbled irritably, "That pompous… ungrateful… rude… bastard…" She suddenly felt a hand on her waist and the impression of a hook on the other side. "Watch where you put that thing." She demanded as he helped her step into the little boat.

"Only trying to help, love."

Regina rolled her eyes as she sat down across from the Captain. "I'm sure." She tossed her hair back from her shoulders and looked out at the nearby island. It seemed like it might be a quiet place, granted she really had no idea what they hand in store. She wasn't even sure if Hook knew or if this was his first journey to the actual island of Neverland as well.

He watched her as two crewmen rowed them closer and closer to the island. The wind blew back her hair as she stared away from him. He thought she was beautiful. In his mind, he could think what he wished; he could do what he wished; he could say what he wished. He could be free to tell her how he felt, to tell her about his past, to be himself and not the stubborn pirate who only cared for himself. He could look to her and say _you're so beautiful_ and then kiss her on those deep red lips, but for real this time. He could hold her around her waist and she wouldn't be angry; she would close her eyes and smile as him, and then she would rest her cheek upon his sweetly as they felt the breeze and listened to the waves crashing upon the shore. He could dream up all sorts of dreams, but as he looked upon the Queen's curious and sour face, he realized that those were all they could ever be, dreams. She would never open up to him unless it was like they had experienced before where she couldn't help but reveal herself. Getting her to be herself was like an impossible task.

As they approached the island, Regina stubbornly refused to let Hook help her out of the boat. Another crewman picked the woman up and carried her to the beach where he set her on her feet gently and away from the Captain. Hands on her hips, she watched as the men pulled the boat away from the tide. She kept gazing over to the Captain, wondering whether or not her was staring at her. However, she noticed that he had stopped looking at her in aggravation and was looking at her differently, curiously.

"You and the Captain are not much for keeping secrets, are you?" The crewman standing beside her said.

She turned quickly to look at the man, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"It's quite obvious, your Majesty. First, you come up to the deck wearing the Captain's nightshirt; secondly, the crew cannot even count how often you two have gone to the Captain's bedchambers together, alone; and now you cannot stop staring upon one another."

"You know nothing, you idiot!" She snapped. "You couldn't catch me dead with that man!" Regina stormed away from him in anger. She approached Hook and said, "Why is it that your entire crew thinks that we are sleeping together?"

"That's a rather blunt question, love." Hook replied snidely.

"What have you been telling them?" She practically snarled at him.

"Absolutely nothing, love. It's all their perception."

"Why do I highly doubt that that is true?"

"Believe me if you wish, but it is."

"You are lying." She glared at him.

"Why is it so hard to believe that I am capable of telling the truth, Regina?"

"Because you're a damned pirate."

The man stepped closer to her and replied, "Just because I'm a pirate does not mean that I am not honest."

"Actually," Regina hissed, inches away from his face, "it does."

"You bloody wench!" Hook quietly called her as his rage was increasing.

"Bite me." She replied.

"I'd prefer to use my hook, love."

Regina smirked devilishly. As she was about to come back at him, she was knock down onto the ground. Hook had pushed her down and had fallen on top of her. Only an inch away from each other's face, the Regina stared at him for a moment as he stared over to the rest of his crew. Regina tilted her head and looked to the crew; a good number of them had been knocked out or even killed. She looked back at Hook, not knowing what was happening. Hearing the sounds of loud and riotous screaming from what seemed to be a large group of island natives, Regina looked back at Hook with fearful eyes. "Come on." He whispered as he grabbed her, helped her up and began to run to a less opened area in the jungle where they could hide from the attack.

"Where are we going?" Regina asked as he pulled her through the jungle grasses of the island.

"Away from here." Hook replied pulling her faster.

"But, your crewmen. You just left them there to die."

"And you wouldn't have?" He stopped and looked at Regina with nervous eyes. "Survival of the fittest, love. That's how it is here in Neverland."

"Then why not leave me?" Regina asked, wondering what his answer would be.

Hook hesitated. He could say a number of things that wouldn't be the truth. All he had to do was pick one. He replied, "I am still a gentleman, am I not? I wouldn't leave a lady in distress."

Regina questioned his true motive for saving her… again. Maybe after all of the years of being a pirate, he finally felt a strange hero complex in which he needed to save damsels in distress. Perhaps pushing her down was just a reflex from being shot at with arrows and tranquilizers.

"You're lying again." She whispered.

"I was never lying in the first place, Regina." He whispered back as he pulled her behind a large tree, pushed her back against it and stood awkwardly close. "Now, shh." He beckoned.

Regina glanced over and noticed that his hand was right beside her head holding him up. Her hands rested upon his chest as she leaned back on the tree and shut her eyes as she felt Hook breathing heavily from the running. She felt his heart beating rapidly as his chest moved in time with his heavy breaths. She felt his hot breath blow back the wisps of her dark hair.

She whispered quietly, "What are we doing? Why are we just hiding here?"

"Shh!" Hook tried to quiet her by covering her mouth with his hand. It made him lean closer into her. He replied, "We are waiting for them to pass. Just stay quiet."

Regina pulled his hand off of her mouth. "Get you filthy hand off of me, Hook."

"Will you shut up? Do you want to get killed?" Hook warned.

"Of course not. But I also don't want that filthy hand over my mouth." Regina snapped back.

"I'm pretty sure that's the least of your worries at the moment-" Hook said with attitude at the constantly complaining woman, but was suddenly cut off at a sharp pain to his neck, followed by a sudden woozy feeling and drowsiness. Regina watched for a moment until also feeling the short stab to her neck. As she began to feel weak she watched as the Captain fell backwards onto the ground, unconscious from what appeared to be a tranquilizer dart. Regina fell forward onto his chest. The blurry vision of several dark-skinned men with paint on their faces began to approach them. Regina could hear the sounds of their voices babbling in a different language before she completely passed out and all went black.

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**So where do think the natives are taking Hook and Regina? Could we be meeting a certain little flower in the near future? Review and give me your thoughts!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note: Thank you for all of the reviews follows again! I am very excited to present this chapter to you! Enjoy!**

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_He awoke at the sound of a door slamming shut. With a startling expression, his eyes opened wide as he jolted up and found himself comfortably sitting in his bed. He looked around in confusion, his heart still pounding from the loud noise that awoke him. Wasn't he on the island? How did he get back here?_

_"Dear, are you alright?" He heard a voice beside him ask. He turned to look and there she was standing up by the dresser, folding a set of clothing for some apparent reason._

_He seemed so confused. So many questions boggled his mind. "What? How did I-?"_

_"We managed to get you back onto the ship. Everything is alright." She smiled as she walked around to his side of the bed. It was strange the way that she was acting, almost as if it wasn't real. Hook stared at her as she gracefully sat beside him on the bed. He looked straight into her deep brown eyes as she reached up and pushed a stray strand of hair back from his face. Her white, puffed sleeve brushed against his cheek gently; the fabric felt warm and comforting, as did the touch of her hand._

_"Regina, why are you acting like this?" Hook couldn't understand what was happening._

_"Shh." She beckoned with her usual smile. She placed her hand to his lips then slowly caressed his face. As he watched her slowly lean forward towards his face, he gave up his wondering. All he knew is that he wanted her touch; he wanted to taste her lips again, but he wanted her to feel the same way and for it to be willing. This wouldn't be just a random kiss he would give her when she fell unconscious and was on the verge of death. No, he wanted this to be real, to be passionate, to be one of love. _

_He leaned in closer as she did. With her hand placed upon his cheek, Regina placed her lips onto his tenderly. Hook could feel the warmth of her breath as their lips locked. He seemed hesitant at first; he was unsure. But as he felt her arms wrap around his neck, he felt himself pulling her in closer. His hand combed through her beautiful, long, dark hair and held the back of her head as he began to kiss her more passionately. He could taste sweetness on her lips and her tongue. He felt his heart beating faster and faster as he pushed her back onto the bed and rolled to face her._

_He never wanted to let go of her or this feeling that he felt in her presence. It was tension but coupled with a fiery and burning passion. He longed for her to be his, and this was the very moment. He parted their lips only for an instant. Their heads touched as they stared at each other with wanting expressions. He felt her hands slowly caressing his back as he whispered her name, "Regina." He kissed her again tenderly and shut his eyes, returning to blackness._

"Regina." He heard himself beckoning as he awoke. Hook looked around confused. It had been just a dream. He tried moving his arms and suddenly discovered that he had been tied up around some sort of pole or trunk. Both arms were wrapped around it and were tied tightly. He was inside a large tent made of animal hides. It seemed to him that the natives managed to return them to their home. Why hadn't they killed him?

Hook, his memory still a bit foggy, suddenly remembered that Regina had been with him when all of this occurred. He tried looked around but could not spot her. Only moments later, he heard her moan with slight pain as she began to wake up. She was behind him on the other side of the large pole that they had been tied to.

"Regina." Hook wiggled a bit to get some mobilization of his hand. He reached it over and touched her, making her yelp.

"Watch it!" She threatened.

"Sorry, love. Just making sure." Hook smirked.

"Yeah, well maybe _just make sure_ a little higher next time." She replied deeply.

"Next time?" Hook's tone sounded a bit intrigued as his brow rose.

"Shut up and just help me to get out of these restraints." She began to wiggle the tight knots, trying to move her hands around.

"Something we can finally agree on, love." Hook moved his wrist, feeling around for his hook. When he finally got a hold of it, he quickly removed it and began slowly sawing at the ropes with the sharp edge.

"Could you move a little faster?" Regina said impatiently as she rested her head back on the pole.

"Patience, love. I can only do so much with one hand. Perhaps you could _assist_." He said with attitude. He listened to her sigh as she grabbed the hook and began working to cut the ropes.

At the sounds of voices outside of the canvased native tent, Regina jumped and stopped sawing for a second. As they stopped, she continued cutting at the rope. Hook was able to wiggle his hand free and began untying Regina discreetly as a young girl with dark colored skin and two long braids curiously stepped into the tent. She was young, no older than twelve years old. Regina looked at the girl curiously. It seemed, by the way the girl stepped inside, that she was not really supposed to be in there.

Hook glanced over as the girl and Regina just stared at one another in silence. "Who are you?" The girl asked in a sweet tone of voice.

Regina seemed confused. "You… you can speak our language?" The young girl nodded.

"Well then, my dear, perhaps you could tell your leader that we mean no harm. Only passing by and would truly appreciate his kindness." Hook smirked at the young girl.

Her dark eyes looked back at Regina and then to the pirate. Her face seemed frozen with no expression. The little girl, with no response, turned and ran out of the tent. Regina sighed with anger. "Nice work there, Captain." She said with sarcasm.

Hook rolled his eyes at her, finished untying her wrists and stood up quickly. "Ye of little faith, love."

Regina rubbed her aching wrists for a moment and glared up at him in reaction to his comment. She watched as he strangely held out his hand and helped her off of the ground. Even now he had to keep up with his gentleman-like act. She stared at him awkwardly for a moment. She wanted to say thank you to him. He had protected her for some reason, he had helped her out of those ropes and he had even helped her get up. But, sincerity was not something she felt she could show him. She brushed off the dirt from her light dress and, with a more smug tone, said, "Thank you, Captain," as if he was no more than a servant or one of her guards.

Hook, however, still a bit mesmerized by his oddly realistic dream, replied with more sincerity. "You're welcome, your Majesty."

Regina looked at him, regretting not saying it sweeter and more thankful like she truly felt. In her mind she wondered why she couldn't just let him see her for who she truly was. It wasn't so difficult to let him in. That was, unless she truly wanted him in.

The two heard a rustling of the tent opening. Hook, in a protective manner stepped closer to the Queen and grabbed her arm as if ready to pull her back to shield her. They stood closely and watched as the young girl returned. She was surprised to see that they were standing up and then smirked. The young girl confidently, but still not saying a word, held out her hand for Regina and beckoned for her to take it. Regina, though hesitant, eventually took the girl's hand and was led out of the tent.

They noticed two men with painted faces standing on either side of the entrance to the tent that they had been left inside of. Hook looked closely at one, but he didn't stir. He quickly caught up to Regina and the young native girl as they were led to a man dressed in colored robes, an elaborate headdress, and wielding some sort of staff. They assumed he was the chief or leader of the tribe. He was old with hairs of gray and white and a determined but wise face. The old man spoke to the man and the woman in the native tongue of the tribe; it was the same language that Regina had heard the men speaking before she passed out and outside of their tent earlier.

Regina glanced down at the young girl in confusion. The girl smiled, still holding the woman's hand, and said, "The Chief welcomes you. I'm his granddaughter Tiger Lily."

0-0-0

As night fell, they sat, danced, ate and drank around the large fire pit in order to celebrate their guests. Regina and Hook were given the honor of sitting beside the Chief and little Tiger Lily, who seemed to quickly bond with the man and woman because she was one of the few who could speak their language.

Regina looked around at fire at the natives conversing and eating and drinking. She listened to the unique music being played and became mesmerized by the three women dancing some sort of tribal dance across the way. This sight was something she had never seen before, nor would have ever seen, in the Enchanted Forest had she had stayed. She glanced to the man sitting to her left and discreetly drinking something. He had seemed rather quiet during the entire thing and kept to himself. He also hadn't even looked at Regina since they had left the tent earlier that day.

Regina stared up as she noticed two women approaching her and Hook with little bowls of some sort of liquid. She assumed that they would want her to drink it by the comforting smiles upon their faces. She looked down to the little native princess, questioning it. "It's a peace offering from my grandfather. An apology to you. I suggest you drink it, or he shall become offended that you did not accept it." Regina, looking rather dumbfounded, nodded and received the little bowl, as did Hook. The two drank the liquid of the bowl; it was sweet with a bit of a bitter aftertaste, but it wasn't anything disgusting, which was what Regina had feared as they had handed it to her.

"Come along." Regina watched as the young girl got up and stood in front of her cheerfully. "Would you dance with me?"

Regina placed the bowl beside her and laughed. She had never danced in her life. Not even as Queen had she danced at a ball or even her wedding. She was forced to waltz once with the King as a celebratory dance at their wedding, but she had been so young and, even then, she was no good. She shook her head at the young girl, "I'm afraid dancing is not my forte, dear. Perhaps the Captain would care to learn." Regina looked to the man beside her who suddenly looked at her viciously.

But his blue eyes soon calmed as he looked up at the young girl so eager to teach him. With her little dark eyes and hopeful smile, he felt he couldn't refuse. "Well, love, let's get on with it then. Shall we?" The little girl grabbed his hand and excitedly led him to the other side of the fire where they could get closer to the beat of the music.

Regina stared across at the pirate with dreaming eyes as he took the little princess' hand and proceeded to learn a dance. She couldn't keep her eyes off of him; he was rather clumsy with his feet and his movements. It made Regina giggled a bit as she watched him. She looked at his sweet smile from across the fire pit as he laughed and danced with the little girl. As the pirate gave up with the attempt at her type of dance, Regina noticed him bow to the little girl like a dashing prince, take her hand and begin teaching her to waltz. Regina couldn't help but smile at this man and his gentle appearance and kind attitude. He was clearly not the same scoundrel pirate captain that she had met so long ago. He was a man, like any other.

As he twirled the little girl under his arm, he finally looked over to her from across the burning flames. He felt that he could not even attest to her array of beauty in the light of the flames. She was so natural-looking in her appearance with the simple tanned dress that once belonged to Milah and her dark hair flowing down her back, the top bit pulled back slightly so as not to cover her face. The little girl dancing with him had placed a beautiful white lily in her hair; it made the "evil" Queen seem so pure and innocent, like a child. He glanced at the admiring smile on her face. The eye contact between the two never broke as he continued to spin the girl around.

She wanted so badly to look away; she knew that her eyes were telling him everything she was thinking, everything she was feeling. She was lucky that the red and orange flames hid the fact that she was blushing like a young girl and that the loud music was covering up the loud beating of her nervous heart. She wanted to tell him something that would make him see how she truly felt. Even just a more sincere thank you for what he had done for her; that would at least be a step she was willing to take.

0-0-0

Hook sat back down beside Regina as he watched the young princess' father carry the tired girl to his tent to sleep soundly. It was quiet now that the hours of dancing and singing and laughing had passed. Music had stopped playing but the crackling of the little embers of the fire remained. The warmth of the fire was no longer there and he noticed how she looked when she was cold. He watched her shiver slightly.

"I am afraid that I have no blanket to warm you this time, love." He glanced over to her with a sweet smile. The light of the moon upon her face was so enchanting to him.

"I'll be alright, Captain. Thank you." She replied deeply but with a sudden shiver. She crossed her arms over her chest for warmth.

Hook looked upon her and felt the urge to help her in some way; he didn't want to watch her so cold and miserable. He wrapped his right arm around her shoulders and pulled her closely to him.

"What are you doing?" She asked with surprise, however, also not objecting or pushing him away.

"I couldn't bear watching you shiver like that, your Majesty. Simply doing my job as a gentleman and keeping you warm in whatever way that I can."

"Thank you." She said quietly and with a light hearted voice. It seemed so unlike them to be so calm with one another in this moment. No argument had arisen between them throughout the entire night. There were no smug comments or sarcasm in their voices; they had rarely spoken throughout the evening, actually. They would say something small like a _thank you_ or a _yes_ in some cases, but mostly they only exchanged glances. "Captain," she looked up at him innocently, "thank you."

"You already said that, love." He smiled as he rubbed his hand up and down on her arm to warm her.

"I mean for everything. For taking me here with you. I know I have been very far from a pleasant guest and-"

"It's perfectly fine, Regina. No need to apologize. The two found themselves alone, staring at one another by the dimmed fire, his arm around her in the quiet night. They could see the longing in each other's eyes as they stared into them, but neither was willing to make the first move.

He wanted to though. He wanted to lean forward and just taste her lips. He wanted to know if they tasted sweet as they did when he dreamed about her.

She wanted to also. This was the first moment she had willingly been sincere to this man. Slowly she felt herself more willing to know him and to let him know her. He was warming her cold heart and slowly getting closer to it.

Facing one another for moments and moments, neither moved. They only stared, inches away from one another, both hoping for the other to say something. Breaking the awkwardness, Regina looked down at the ground and stood slowly, letting Hook's hand falls from her shoulder. "I believe I am going to turn in. It's late."

Hook quickly stood up and faced her. He wanted to say something, to do something. He wanted to kiss her and then pick her up in his arms and carry her to his tent. But instead, the gentlemanly pirate simply bowed his head in respect and said, "Good night, my lady."

"Good night." She replied with a smile and a slight bow of her head before she turned and walked away from him.

Hook watched her back as she walked away. She looked back at him for only a moment before stepping into her tent. Hook turned and watched as the last ember of the cracking fire burned out and left him in complete darkness and coldness. He sighed in disappointment at his lack of courage in those passed moments and then returned to his own tent for the night.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note: Thank you to all of you who started following this story. Very excited to present this chapter. I think it's one of my bests. Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Warning: This chapter does consist of some character deaths (not main character).**

* * *

_"Regina?" she heard a soothing voice say from outside of her tent. "May I come in?"_

_"You may, Captain." Regina looked up at the entrance and watched as the tall dark man walked inside. "What can I do for you?"_

_"Uh…well," the man stammered a bit. He seemed to be getting lost in her eyes. He was nervous too, not normal for someone like him. "There was something I meant to do before you left."_

_"Something you need me for?" Regina was confused to what he might have been referring to._

_The man laughed quietly. "Preferably."_

_"Then what is it?" She was getting tired of all of this dancing around each other. She just wanted him to get to the point._

_The pirate took a sudden step forward towards the Queen, placed his hand to her cheek and made no hesitation to kiss her. She jumped slightly at his touch for she was not expecting him to do that, but soon she melted right into that kiss and into his arms. Her hands placed onto his chest, she felt him pull her in closer so that not an inch of space was left in between them._

_They parted for a moment to look into each other's eyes. She seemed so confused as she stared into that passionate ocean of blue. He gave her a look as if to tell her that it would all be alright, that he would protect her and would never hurt her. He could see the fear and doubt in her dark eyes begin to fade away as she understood what his own eyes were telling her. He would never leave her alone just as he had promised that day in his bedchamber; he wouldn't leave her. _

_She let him lean forward and touch lips again so much more passionately than the first time. They let their tongues dance so as to taste the sweetness of one another. Hook combed his fingers through her long hair and held the back of her head gently. His other arm wrapped tightly around her waist, but remained cautious of the sharp edge of his hook. She kept her hand on his chest feeling his heart beating in rhythm. Her fingers fiddled through the hair of his chest shown through the V-necked shape of his white puffed shirt._

_She listened to him whisper in between breaths, "Regina." They pressed their lips together again. "Regina." He voice was beginning to fade._

"Regina!" Hook was trying to shake the woman awake. "Regina, get up. We need to get out of here."

Opening her eyes, she looked at the man kneeling beside her. She sat up slowly and regained her vision. Looking at him she noticed the panic in his eyes, the fear and nervousness.

"Get up, love, we need to go." He pulled her to her feet and helped her regain her balance by holding her shoulders steady.

"Wait, why? What's going on?" She was so confused at what he was doing.

"No time to explain." He pulled her to the entrance, turned to her and held her arms more calmly. "Love, are you prepared for what you're about to see?"

"Hook, I don't even know what I'm about to see. What the hell happened?"

The man held her hand and looked at her anxiously. All he wanted to do was get her out of there. It was that same look that he had given her in her dream. He wanted to protect her from whatever _had_ happened, but was regretting that fact that he most likely could not. He led her out of the tent to reveal the most horrible sight.

Regina gasped and brought her hand to her mouth. What they saw was a devastating, gruesome massacre of the entire little tribe. Bodies laid everywhere on the ground. She felt the man tug at her hand, but she refused to move. Her fear and pain soon turned into anger as she felt him try to pull her away again. She pulled back forcing him to let go of her hand. "What did you do?" She said with a deep and furious voice.

"Regina, I did nothing!" The Captain replied calmly. "I awoke to this sight and quickly came to get you."

"No, you did this! How could it have been anyone else? Why would anyone else have spared only the two of us?" Regina screamed furiously.

Hook began yelling back with anger and an insulted heart, "You listen to me. I would _never_ even muster the thought of doing something like this! I have one mission, Regina, to kill that damned crocodile Rumplestiltskin and claim my vengeance. Massacring a small village of natives who showed us nothing but kindness and respect would do nothing to accomplish that! Thinking that I would even do such a monstrous thing…" Hook forced himself to stop and calm himself.

Regina looked into his sincere eyes and allowed her fury to slowly fade away. She shook her head, "I'm sorry. I was just-" Regina stopped and looked passed the pirate. She saw a particular face that made her pause midsentence. She began walking towards the body slowly, tears building in her eyes. Hook turned around and noticed what Regina had seen. The woman knelt down beside the small body of the little girl with the two braids in her hair. Tears fell from her eyes and dripped onto the cold, hard ground. Regina reached over and touched the little girl's stone cold face and caressed her soft cheek.

Hook followed and looked over at the little princess that he had been dancing with only a few hours ago around the fire. The image of her kind smile and her laugh began to haunt his memory at the sight of her lifeless body. He placed his hand onto Regina's shoulder and suddenly felt her crash into his embrace. She had stood, buried her face and hands into his chest and began to sob. No one else ever would have seen Regina react like this. She would have never allowed herself to sob into anyone else's arms, but she had somehow let herself open up to the Captain, though she had tried so hard not to. Hook held her in his arms tightly trying to force himself to close his eyes and not look at the child on the ground. _What kind of beast would do such a thing_? He thought to himself.

At that thought, a familiar nasty voice made Regina and him open their eyes and look over in shock. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. What a shame. Pretty little girl, wasn't she?"

Hook suddenly felt all of the rage return through him. "I should have known it was you! You damn crocodile, you murdered an innocent child!" He screamed viciously. Normally he would have already run to attack the beast, but instead he only held the woman in his arms tighter.

"Why did you do this?" Regina asked with blood-shot eyes from the tears.

"Why such a shock, dearie? It is isn't as if you haven't done anything remotely similar." He replied with a high-pitched cackle.

Hooked looked down at Regina confused. Obviously, there were things that she had done as the Evil Queen, but he could never fathom anything like this. She looked up to him, nervous of his reaction. He could see in her that she regretted what she had done so long ago. He saw in her eyes the painful memories of her cruel actions.

She looked back at the Dark One and said forcefully, "I'm not that person anymore. Now tell us why you've done this. There was no reason to." More tears fell from her eyes as she glanced back at the little girl in front of her.

"Why, because of you, dearie. There was indeed a reason and I must say I have a bone to pick with you." The man took a few steps forward. Hook quickly held out his hook in defense with his other arm still tightly clutching Regina's waist, keeping her close. The man stepped back and looked at the Queen. "You were supposed to cast my curse, dearie. Now because you have trolled off with this… _pirate_… to have a new life, it shall never come to pass. I need that curse. And if you don't cast it… you would have broken a deal with me. And you know that I can do much worse than this."

"I never made a deal with you to cast the dark curse!" Regina said in defense.

The man with golden, scaly skin wagged his finger at her. "You may not have, dearie, but your mother did. Unfortunately, it is _you_ who must suffer the consequences if this deal is not met."

"How is this not punishment enough?" She looked at him in distress.

"Oh dearie, dearie, dearie. _This_ was only your warning. Do as I say, or there will be much worse punishment than this. I can assure you." He smirked at her. He looked at her eyes and notice that a sort of innocence had returned in her. It was if she was reverting to her old self; she was becoming the innocent child who refused to practice magic and only wanted to be free to live her own life. Even her appearance seemed to take a turn. It truly disappointed him to see all of his hard work in training her to go to waste for some freedom and a life with a pirate.

"We won't let you do this." Hook replied to his enemy. "With all of my power I will kill you, crocodile."

The man cackled in mockery of the pirate. "Look at you. The Captain and the Queen fighting for _true love_. That is quite a sight indeed." His laugh became deeper and wicked. "We'll see about that." He said has he disappeared through some sort of self-made portal.

The pirate and the woman stared at each other silently. Neither of them wanted to admit what they heard him say, though they both heard it perfectly clear. _True love._ Though both of them felt something and would refuse to let the other know, neither believed that it could be true love. How could it? Her true love had been Daniel; his had been Milah. Both their true loves were the reasons for their seeking vengeance, but were they changing? Regina gave up her chance to cast the curse and left with the intriguing pirate who offered her freedom. It was all she had ever wanted. Just in those few earlier moments, Hook had a perfect chance to kill is mortal enemy and exact his revenge, but instead he stayed put with his arm wrapped around her because protecting her came first.

"We need to go." Hook whispered, breaking the silence. Regina nodded to him softly, telling him that she understood. Hook slid his hand off of her waist, took a hold of her hand and led the way out of the brutal scene.

0-0-0

They had no place to go; they simply trolled through the jungles of Neverland not knowing what they were looking for. They remained silent as they walked. The images of the faces stayed imprinted in their minds. Hook continuously looked back to check on the woman who was straggling behind him; she walked with sadness in her steps and her head facing the ground. He could tell that she was trying so hard to forget the faces of those people, those children, and especially the people Rumplestiltskin had remind her of; the people she herself had murdered brutally in her quest to destroy her stepdaughter Princess Snow White.

There was more on her mind, though. It was a question she pondered for a little while too. What he had done… protected her; he never had to, yet he did. Regina looked to him, "Captain?" She asked with her deep tone of voice.

"Yes, love?" He replied glancing at her.

"You could have killed him. Easily. Could have exacted your vengeance in a simple second."

"No I couldn't have." He said deeply and modestly.

Regina smirked and laughed slightly. "Don't lie to me, pirate. I know you could. But the real question is: why didn't you?"

The man stopped walked and turned to look at the woman behind him who suddenly stopped as well. "I think you know exactly why, love."

Regina shook her head. "You didn't need to protect me, Hook. I'm not some damsel in distress who needs saving."

"Believe me when I say that I do not see you that way, Regina. But here, in Neverland, you _are_ vulnerable. You don't have your magic to protect you."

Regina rolled her eyes. "It's not as if you have much else to protect me with, Captain."

"But it's something." Hook looked at the woman honorably.

Regina looked at him questioningly. There was more; she knew it. "But _why_ do it? You have no reason to protect me over getting your revenge. So tell me why."

"I have my reasons, love." Hook replied, trying to avoid the true answer. He averted his eyes from the woman, hoping that the questioning would cease, but Regina was persistent. He listened to her step closer to him and moved to search for his eyes. She wanted to look into his array of blue; she wanted him to tell her the truth. He lifted his head to look into her beautiful brown eyes and her softened expression. She was allowing herself to open up to him; she only hoped that he would do the same for her, if he truly felt that way.

"Please, Killian." She said sweetly as she stepped closer and placed her hand to his chest to feel his heart beating softly. This was the first time she had used the Captain's name to address him. It was also the most longing look he had seen from her. They were so close that he could see that her eyes remained slightly red and puffy from the earlier crying.

The man sighed. "You asked me not to leave you alone that day in my cabin. And I promised you that I wouldn't, Regina. I may be nothing but a pirate, but I do honor my word."

He watched a small smile appear on the woman's face. She knew that she meant something to him when he admitted that answer. She could hear the truth in his voice. Regina leaned forward onto his chest bringing them closer together.

The man, now very quiet, slowly slid his hand onto her waist. He wasn't sure of this moment. So many dreams had been twisted with reality; he did not want this to be just another mere fantasy in his head. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer. He could feel her hot breath on his face and her cold hands touching his mangled chest hair. The feeling of the warm and of her touch seemed real, but he still didn't know. He whispered, "Regina?"

"Shh," She placed her right hand to his lips to quiet him. She leaned in, inches away from touching lips and whispered, "I always value a man of his word." She smiled about to finally have that moment. But, suddenly, the sounds of rustling bushes startled the man and the woman, forcing them to jump and separate before anything could happen.

As the rustling increased, Hook pulled Regina close to him again in a protective manner and held his hook out in defense for whatever was about to reveal itself. But what did jump out of the bushes was quite unexpected. A young boy with dark hair and light green eyes, no older than four-years-old, and dressed in a light puffed shirt and light brown pants similar to the pirate captain's apparel, hopped out of the bushes and suddenly ran towards the couple cheerfully with laugher. Regina suddenly felt the young child crash against her lower body and wrap his little arms around her.

Regina looked down in shock, not sure of what to do or how to react. The man and woman looked up and noticed an older boy jump down from a low-sitting tree and yell, "Tuck!" A third boy, slight younger than the oldest, ran behind him. "Tuck! What are you doing?" The oldest ran up and stopped in his tracks as he noticed the pirate with the hook for a hand. He knew about pirates and how they supposedly acted, but this boy had heard rumors of this particular pirate with the hook for a hand from a boy name Bae who had managed to escape Neverland long ago. He looked into the pirate's blue eyes with suspicion. The oldest boy moved his attention back to the youngest, bent over and beckoned for the little boy to go back to him. "Come on, Tuck."

"No! They've come to rescue us!" The little boy looked up at Regina with his green eyes and asked innocently, "Right? You've come to rescue us from the shadow thingy?" Regina looked down at the little boy confused at what he had been saying. She was not familiar with the entirety of Neverland quite yet and she had no idea what this shadow thing was or why these boys where on the island. She glanced up at the other two boys staring at them; the younger, blonde one seemed to just stare nervously, but the eldest with the dark hair and dark eyes was rather skeptical of the adults.

She looked over to the man beside her who was glaring over at the eldest boy. Neither the boy nor the pirate seemed to have a good feeling from the other. Regina whispered to him, "Who are these boys?"

Hook, keeping his eyes on the oldest, replied, "They are the lost boys."

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**As you may be able to tell, I like cliff hangers a lot. Please review and tell me what you think! Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Again, thank you so so much for reading and reviewing and following! I love that you guys are enjoying this story! So without further adieu, I present chapter 7! Happy reading!**

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"What's your name, my boy?" Hook asked the eldest boy in curiously.

However, the dark-haired boy was stubborn in the way that he looked at the pirate. "What's it to you?"

"It was just a simple question." Hook smirked.

"Well, I don't have to answer you." The young boy, no older than eleven or twelve, though he acted maturely for his age, crossed his arms over his chest.

"I suppose you don't." Hook nodded in agreement.

The tiny four-year-old boy, with his arms still wrapped around Regina's leg and his little cheek resting on her thigh, looked at the eldest and naively said, "Come on, Blaze! Tell them your name!"

"Tuck!" The boy scolded him angrily.

"Blaze? That's quite and interesting name." Regina smiled at the young boy hugging her.

Finally the blonde, blue-eyed boy spoke up, though his voice was still quiet, "It's actually Blake, but his nickname is Blaze." He said with a meek tone, looking up at Regina with nervous and shy eyes.

"Willy!" Blaze smacked the boy standing next to him on the arm.

"What? They would have found out anyway. Why are you being such a baby?" The young blonde shrugged his shoulders.

"Because we can't trust them."

Hook responded to the boy, "What makes you think that you can't trust us, boy?"

His dark eyes glared at the Captain and he said cruelly, "You're a _pirate_." Hook could tell right away that this boy had heard rumors about pirates that were most likely all wrong. He probably thought that pirates were evil, sly, thieving and only thought of themselves. And granted some were, but many weren't. Hook, for instance, was a rather honorable and noble man even though he was a pirate, so he believed.

"Not all pirates are what you think they are, boy." Hook replied, raising his brow.

"You only say that because you are one." Blaze snapped back with fierce attitude.

Regina watched the argument between the man and the young boy. It was rather strange. If she didn't know better, she would have assumed Blake to be a smaller version of what Hook was like as a boy. His stubborn expression, his crossed arms, the snide way he would talk back to someone, even the way the boy raised his brow was similar. It made her smile softly to watch Hook and this boy; she found it quite amusing.

In the midst of the arguing, in which Hook was trying to convince the stubborn boy that everything he had learnt about pirates was not true, Regina suddenly felt a small tug on her dress come from the little boy who had been clinging to her leg the entire time. She glanced down and noticed the little reaching his arms up towards her as if asking her to picking him up and hold him in her arms. She smiled at this little gesture from the child. She leaned over, picked the boy up and rested him against her left side. She felt shivers up and down her spine followed by a strange warmth through her body as the little boy wrapped his arms around her neck and rested his head on her shoulder. She didn't know what it was about this boy, but she felt instantly connected to him and his kind, loving personality. Maybe it was simply the innocence in which he ran to her while giggling, clenched to her tightly, and fell in love with her without even knowing her.

She listened to the little boy whisper in her ear with a lighthearted voice, "Thank you for rescuing us." She simply smiled and closed her eyes at the little voice, resting her cheek on his head.

Opening her eyes once more, she noticed the other young boy. About seven or eight years old, his hair was almost bleached blonde and his eyes were a bright blue. The color reminded her of Hook's ocean-colored eyes. They stared at her shyly, his head tilted slightly to his right. He seemed curious of her and the way she held the dark-haired toddler. It was as if he had never seen a woman before, or at least not in a long time. He looked as if he longed for comfort; he seemed so scared though. Regina was a little surprised when he quietly began to walk over to her. He seemed hesitant and nervous. He didn't speak for a while either, only stared upon her as she embraced the younger boy in her arms and allowed him to rest his head on her shoulder.

Regina bent down slowly to meet the young boy face to face. She set young Tucker on her knee as she continued to hold onto him. "What's your name, dear?" She asked calmly and with a sweet smile. She wasn't sure what it was, but these boys were softening her far beyond her normal personality. No one wouldn't even suspect that she was the Evil Queen if they had not already known.

The young boy quietly whispered with a sweet and high-pitched voice. "Willy." He didn't smile, however. She could sense that he was still rather nervous around her.

"Willy? As in William?" She asked. The young boy nodded. "Where are your parents?" She wondered why these boys were running around the island all alone. Hook had told her that they were the lost boys, not that she understood what that meant.

Regina heard the little boy in her arms murmur, "We don't have any." She looked down at the little boy in shock and then into the sorrowful eyes of the young blonde.

Willy replied, "Blaze says that we've been in Neverland too long. Our parents grew old and died while we were here."

"Why didn't you go back home, dear?" Regina was curious.

"The shadow won't let us leave." Willy looked at her. With another curious tilt of the head, he asked, "Why are you here? Grown ups don't come to Neverland."

"Especially not girls." Tuck mumbled into Regina's long hair as he was engaged in playing with it.

Regina thought about what these young boys were telling her. They were truly _lost_ here with no mother or father. They could not leave the island for fear of that creature they kept calling "the shadow" and all they had to protect them was each other. She could understand why the oldest boy Blake seemed so protective and untrusting. She smiled at the young boy and replied, "The Captain and I were just on a little adventure."

"An adventure?" The four-year-old in her arms perked up. "Can we come? Please!"

As she stood up carefully, Regina looked towards Hook who had notice what the young boy had asked. Their eyes spoke with each other. She could see that, after being attacked on the beach, waking up to a massacred tribe, running into a vengeful Rumplestiltskin and simply arguing with Blake who really did not trust either of them, he was not very keen on bringing along three young boys. But, the expression in hers only made him falter. He could see that she didn't want to leave these children behind especially after seeing that little girl and knowing that some sort of shadow was after these children. Something came over her, an urge, to want to protect them and he could understand that. He had done the same with protecting her. With a relaxing of his brow and a small smirk, she knew his answer.

She looked over to the young boy and said, "You may come with us only if you want to." She smiled. "All of you can." She glanced over to the young blonde and the dark-haired boy with his arm crossed in a stubborn manner.

"We don't." Blake said headstrong in his opinion of them.

"I do!" Tuck said as he buried his little head into Regina's soft hair and hugged his arms around her neck tightly.

"Well, fine! Willy and I can take care of ourselves! We don't need grown ups! Especially _pirates_." He spat bitterly.

Willy looked up at Regina as Tucker hugged her tightly. He glanced over to Blake and said, "I… um… want to go too." He didn't like being alone, forced to care for himself. He was only a seven-year-old boy who wanted nothing more to be loved. And he felt that this could be a chance for that. The young boy was nervous to do so, but he walked beside the woman carefully. Regina looked down at him with a smile as he slide his little hand into the palm of hers and held her hand happily.

"You're both going to regret it." Blake said as he backed away slowly. "You can't trust pirates. They'll only bring you back to _him_." He backed away further as the young boys stayed put. He looked at the woman and then to the Captain. He was confident that he was right; he couldn't trust them. It was better to be alone and care for yourself than to trust people who could lie to you. He turned and ran back into the jungle alone.

Hook could see the sadness in both young boys eyes as well as Regina's. She didn't know the boy, yet she was scared for him and could only hope that he would change his mind and find them again. As she let go of Willy's hand and set Tucker down onto the ground, she felt a comforting hand touch her back. "He'll be alright, love. We need to go now."

She attempted a smile, but she just couldn't manage. She watched the young boys walk ahead of them through the area and proceeded to follow them. Looking down at the ground with unhappy eyes, she heard Hook say her name, "Regina."

She suddenly felt a hand grab her wrist and pull her back. Before she could even understand what was happening, she was pulled into the pirate Captain's embrace with his lips crashing upon hers. She pushed back slightly only to breathe and looked up into his eyes. He smirked with his arms around her waist.

"What was that?" She asked catching her breath.

The man held her a little tighter and whispered, "Something I should have done a long time ago, love."

With a smile forming upon her face, she tugged lightly on the white collar of his shirt. Moving up on her toes to meet his face, she whispered, "I thought you never would, _Captain_." She accented his name sensually before placing her lips on his more passionately than before, letting her right hand slide up his chest and comb through his dark hair.

"Hey! What's taking so long?" Tucker's yelling caused their second kiss to break. Regina glanced back at the two boys standing awkwardly and staring. Both she and Hook began laugh. They broke their tight embrace, but Hook refused to let go of her waist with his good hand. They walked closely as they caught up to the boys, both beaming with smiles, and experiencing a complete change in who they once were.

0-0-0

The water felt so warm as she lifted her tan dress and stepped into the clear fresh water of the lagoon. She felt the breeze carry a light mist to her face. However, the relaxing moment soon faded as she heard the sounds of loud laughter and splashing in the water. She opened her eyes and, with a little shock, looked at the two boys stark naked and playing in the water. She laughed at the sight and then suddenly felt two warming arms wrap around her waist. She felt the stubble from his chin graze her as he pecked her cheek lightly.

"What are you doing?" She said with a smirk. She turned her head to gaze at him.

The Captain placed his chin upon the shoulder and replied, "Now that I have you, I am never letting you go, love."

Regina laughed deeply as she turned around to face the man. She wrapped her arms around his neck seductively, lifted her brow, smirked and replied, "Is that so?"

With his arms around her waist, he looked down at her and asked, "Would you like me to prove it to you, love?"

"Well," she tilted her head and looked disappointed in more of a playful manner, "considering how long it took you to do so in the first place… you might just have to, dear." She giggled as she looked up at him.

He leaned forward and placed a sweet kiss to her lips just as he had done earlier. He loved the taste of her sweet red lips as they touched. He never wanted it to stop and she knew that too. Playfully she parted them for a moment, pecked them once more and then backed away again. She made him think that she would go back again, but instead, she whispered, "I need to get the boys." She smirked as his head leaned further, but received no kiss.

As she slowly walked away with the ends of her dress trailing the edge of the water, he opened his eyes and laughed, "You wicked woman."

She gave him a devious look before going over to the young boys who were splashing in the water. She smiled at them sweetly. As Tucker splash up to her, she bent over the meet him at his level. "Are you washing up?" She asked with a smile and a stern look. The boy shook his head but kept his big naïve smile. "Well then I suggest you do. We can't stay here much longer."

"Why not?" The young boy asked with a bit of a whine in his voice.

Regina dipped the end of her dress in the water and began to wipe the dirt from his cheeks. "It's getting dark, dear, and we have no place to sleep. We want to return to the ship."

"Oh." The little boy flinched as Regina tried cleaning his face. "Okay. But if we wash quickly, can we play?"

"Only for a little while." Regina replied sternly. The boy nodded and ran back into the water cheerfully.

Regina turned and noticed the striking Captain sitting down, staring at her with dreamy eyes. With a content smile she returned to him and knelt in front of him in the sand. She leaned forward on her hands and kissed him sweetly. It seemed as if now that they had finally shown how they felt, they never wanted to stop. She sat down in between his legs and leaned her back up against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his cheek against the temple of her head. He looked out and watch the young boys bathing in the lagoon and then looked down at the beautiful woman in his arms. Only a few hours earlier he was a pirate, alone and with no happiness. Now he had this gorgeous queen sitting in his embrace and two young boys playing in the water. He swore to himself that he would protect them with every ounce of his being. He could no longer think of only himself and his own needs; he had people depending on him with their lives.

She felt him carefully move her hair to her back and lightly kiss her shoulder. She closed her eyes and turning her head to where she felt his warm breath and tender lips on her skin. "Hook?" She asked.

"Mhmm?" He moaned as he trailed kissed up her shoulder and neck.

"Do think he'll come back?"

"Who?"

"The other boy, Blake. I'm just worried about him being alone."

"He's just a stubborn young boy."

"Hook," he could tell the she was getting really worried. "no one should have to be alone like that, especially not a young boy. You and I should know that better than anyone."

He stopped kissing her and looked into her eyes sincerely, "Regina, you have to understand that this boy has been here for so long that he will have a hard time trusting anyone. Neverland may be a place where you never grow _old_, but for what these boys go through, they are instantly forced to grow _up_. Give the boy some time and I assure you, he'll come around. He may think that all he wants is to care for himself, but he will see that all he needs is someone to show him love."

"Rather poetic for a pirate. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were softening up, Captain." She laughed.

"Maybe I know from experience, love." He raised his brow teasingly.

"Oh do you, now?" She giggled as he leaned close and kissed her happily. She looked over to the young boys playing in the water. She turned to Hook and asked, "Do you have anything to dry them off with?"

"Here," he said as he took his arms off of her waist and pulled off his large white shirt. "This should suffice."

Regina gave a rather attracted look towards his bare naked chest as he handed her the shirt. She said nothing as she stood, but flipped her hair back to glance at him once more as she walked towards the boys. Hook stood up as well and turned to where the boy's cloths hung on a tree branch.

He took them off of the branch and draped them over his arm, being particularly careful not to tatter them with his hook. He smirked, as he knew who was present. "You're just in time, my boy." He said without turning around.

The young eleven-year-old Blake jumped down from a tree branch and replied, "I'm not _your boy_."

"Then why are you here?" Hook turned around with smile. Clearly he already knew that the boy secretly longed for what the other two had accepted. He was tired of caring for himself and want to be shown a little love, though he would never admit to it and especially not to Hook. Instead, he came up with an excuse.

"I promised Willy and Tuck that I would protect them. So, if they want to be here, then I guess I have to too."

"Ah," Hook smirked. "A man of your word, are you? I suppose that is fair. Come on then and wash up before we head back to the ship." Hook turned around and began to walk down.

"Wait, we are going to your ship?" The boy asked with a hint of attitude.

"Where else do you expect to sleep, boy?" Blake shrugged and then soon joined him at the edge of the lagoon.

"Blaze!" Tucker yelled out as he spotted the older boy walking down with the Captain. Regina, trying to dry off the giddy and wiggly child, looked over to Hook with a smile. She looked to the older boy as he put his hands into the water and washed his face. She wrapped Willy up in Hook's enlarge shirt and then took Tucker in her arms and wrapped him in the top layer skirt of her dress.

As she dressed the boys, Blake stared over with curious eyes. He looked at the smiles on their faces as she dried them off and made them giggle by tickling them. He could kind of understand why they chose to go with the grown ups, but he still had that issue with trust. For an eleven-year-old, he didn't possess much innocence. Perhaps he just spent too many years in Neverland that he just grew bitter and untrusting. He needed to protect himself. Little did the boy with dark eyes know, Captain Hook, the pirate he didn't trust most of all, was in fact to most like him.

"Come along, boy!" The sound of the pirate's voice calling him forced him to snap out of his daze. "It's getting dark." Blake quickly jumped up and ran to join them to return to the Captain's ship.

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**There you are! They have finally admitted it and kissed! This was a rather fluffy sort of chapter. I thought I owed it to you all after the last chapter. Thank you for reading and please review. It keeps me motived for you all! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Hey there Oncers. So sorry it took so long to get this next chapter up. I've been away at college orientation so I haven't had much time to write. But, not to fear! Chapter 8 is here! Please enjoy and review. I love to hear feedback! **

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Walking in quiet darkness as the sun began to set, Hook looked over to Regina who was walking closely beside him. She was holding the youngest boy in her arms, cupping her hand on his little head as it rested against her cheek. Hook peaked around and noticed the boy sound asleep. His dark green eyes shut peacefully in the comfortable embrace that she held him in. He gazed upon the light and dreamy smile on her face as she looked to the ground where she walked.

"Boy has taken quite a shine to you, love." Hook smiled as Tucker buried his tired face into her neck with a soft moan.

Regina laughed quietly and whispered so as not to wake the boy, "I would say it's mutual."

Hook reached over with his hand and brushed back a little strand of the toddler's dark hair. His hand then moved to her back gently. Regina looked so calming in that moment. The image of her with the sleeping child in her arms became her; it only brought out her beauty more. He could see how she wanted to protect them, care for them, and love them. This woman had spent so many years holding herself captive in a dark palace. She hid her true beauty underneath the dark clothes, crazed hair and masking make up. She blocked out her heart for so long that it had grown so cold and black making her wicked. Truthfully though, all she needed was someone to give all of that bottled up love to. She had had no one to love; it had all sat there in the center of her heart as small spec of light surrounded by darkness. But he could see it now. The spec of light had begun to grow for these children and, he hoped, for him as well. This was the true person Regina was, not the Evil Queen.

Hook watched as her expression of happiness began to fade. He had seen that look before; something was worrying her. "What's on your mind, love?"

She paused for a moment, looking down at the ground. Hook could tell that it must have been important; she wouldn't even look at him. He felt the muscles in her back tense up as she asked apprehensively, "Killian, what's going to happen when we take the boys off of the island? They can't leave."

Hook sighed at the thought. He remembered what it was like hiding young Baelfire on his ship those many years ago. It was difficult, keeping them away and keeping that secret, especially with the risks of getting caught. Now they would have to hide _three_ young boys from potential dangers; they were putting themselves at risk as well. It wouldn't just be the Lost Ones and the Shadow looking for them now. The Captain had committed mutiny during the attack from the natives when he grabbed Regina and ran to save them, leaving the crew to die. Surely he would run into a few who had survived and wish to seek revenge upon their backstabbing Captain. Not to mention, Rumplestitlskin was out to get Regina. Now with three boys that she was beginning to become attached to, she had a weakness against the ruthless crocodile. There was no doubt that they would meet him again and particularly soon.

"I don't know, love." He replied, though he was certain that things _would_ in fact happen.

"People are going to come after us, aren't they?" She asked looked up at him with her nervous eyes. He watched her arms tense up a bit and clutch the four-year-old tighter as the thought came to her. She glanced over at the other two boys walking in front of them unwarily.

Hook felt the urge to comfort her. He rubbed her back soothingly, kissed her head and whispered, "These boys are safer with us than if we had let them alone on the island, Regina. And know that I will do everything in my power to protect them and you."

His assurance calmed her slightly. Her nerves still ached, but she knew that, even though she was afraid, she wouldn't show it to anyone else but the man standing beside her. He was the only one who could understand, who would be willing to understand. In front of others, when the time would come to protect herself or those children, Regina would become the fierce and ruthless Queen that she had once been. She would become a mother bear fighting viciously to protect her cubs at any cost. Her mind would be set on that one goal and she would stop at nothing to achieve it.

As they walked onto the beach to find an abandoned lifeboat, Regina noticed that a few bodies of the crewmen remained lying in the sand from the attack the day before. She beckoned for the boys to return to them and stay close. With one arm holding onto the sleeping toddler, her other pulled Willy closely to her waist. "Don't look, sweetheart." She beckoned the boy as they approached one of the small boats.

Hook looked over to Blake who stood beside Regina with cautious dark eyes and his arms crossed. "Care to assist me, boy?" He asked. Blake shrugged his shoulders and walked beside the pirate. He placed himself where Hook told him to go so that they could push the boat off into the water. The Captain gestured for Regina to get into the lifeboat with the young ones; Hook lifted young Willy into the boat to sit beside Regina. With all their might, Hook and Blake worked together to push the boat far enough into the water before jumping in and grabbing the oars to row.

A clap of thunder roared as they began to row away from the shore. It made the sleeping boy in Regina's arms jump up. His sleep-filled eyes looked at Regina nervously from the loud sounds that startled him. "Shh. it's alright." She hugged him. But Hook could tell in her eyes that she was just being strong for the little ones. Both of them knew that this up-and-coming storm must have had something to do with their leaving the island. They would only hope that they could get to the ship and hide the boys quickly.

0-0-0

Hook quickly pulled the boys up onto the deck of ship. Taking a hold of Regina's hand, he was forced to look into her worried eyes once more. The storm was raging even stronger, causing the ship to rock and creek. He pulled her to the deck safely. Another clap of thunder roared and lightning lit up the night sky. Tucker, who had been standing beside Blake, quickly ran and crashed into Regina with tears streaming down his exhausted face. The loud bang made Willy take tight hold around Hook's waist. Even Blake remained close to the pirate due to his fear of what was happening.

"Don't let them take us back. Please!" Tucker cried. Regina quickly scooped the boy up into her arms to console him and then looked to Hook for the answers.

"Come on." He beckoned with the two older boys close beside him. He led them down to a small storage area in the bunk cabin. Hook had a feeling that this raging storm meant that _someone_ on the island knew that children had left and they were soon going to come in search of them. He needed to hide the boys quickly.

He opened the compartment and gestured for Regina to get Willy and Tucker inside as he pulled the eldest boy aside to talk. "Now listen to me, boy. I know that you are not certain of me because I am a pirate, but I need you to trust me now. Alright?" He watched the boy's head nod twice. "I need you, William, and Tucker to stay absolutely silent. Do you understand? I'm counting on you. Can you do this?"

"I can." The boy said confidently.

"Are you positive, my boy?" Hook placed his hand to Blake's left shoulder and looked into his dark eyes. He needed to know that this boy did trust him, even if it was only for this moment and then he returned to his stubborn ways with his crossed arms and his back talk. But, Hook needed to see that look of fearlessness in his eyes and that look of understanding of the dire situation.

"I swear. Just don't let them take us back." He begged.

"I won't, my boy. I give you my word." Hook ruffled the young boy's dark hair and quickly led him to the compartment. As Blake jumped down quietly and went to the other two boys, Hook pulled Regina back out and quickly shut it tight. But as he looked back down he opened it again and whispered to the woman. "Go down there with them."

"What? Why?" Regina seemed confused.

"It may be the Lost Ones, but it may not be, love. It could be the crocodile or someone we have never even encountered before. I just can't risk it." He said as he tucked a small wisp of hair behind her ear.

Regina traced her fingers down the cold metal of his hook and replied softly, "I'm not leaving you alone."

"And I refuse to put you in harm's way. Now for once, just listen to me and get in the compartment!" Hook raised his voice in anger towards her caused her to jump suddenly. Normally at something like that she wouldn't have jumped, but it had been so unexpected. She could see the anxiousness getting to him. It was almost driving him crazy that they were in constant danger of so many people and so many things. He shut his eyes and whispered breathlessly, "I'm sorry." He walked up to her and pulled her closely, "I'm sorry." He repeated. "Just, please, Regina." He leaned in so that their foreheads would touch. Eyes closed, both adults more scared than they have been in their lives. "I can't lose you."

With tears leaking from her dark eyes, Regina looked up at him. She cupped his face in her soft and delicate hands, the hands of a queen, and kissed his lips so fervently, so passionately, that a tear even escaped the pirate's eyes. He didn't know what to expect, but they both knew that his life would be on the line no matter who or what it was. She kissed him again with small whimpers escaping her mouth. She looking to him and whispered, "Don't you dare get yourself killed. You can't leave me alone. You promised me."

Hook placed another peck to her lips and whispered in a breath, "I always keep my word, love." He smirked.

With one last kiss, Regina's hands slow slid off of his cheeks and his arms let go of her waist. He lowered her down in the compartment and didn't take his eyes off of her until he was forced to close it and lock it. He returned to the deck in the midst of the storm to face whatever demon Neverland was planning to throw at him.

0-0-0

In the heavy down-pouring rain, Hook saw them hopping over the railing. One stood upon it, holding onto a set of ropes tied to the main sail. A second stood close by, his eyes suspiciously lurking the areas of the ship. The third, the leader, approached the pirate Captain with his dark and devious eyes and a wicked smirk.

"So we meet again, Captain." The young man said with a raspy, deep voice.

"A pleasure as always, mate. What can I do for you?" Hook asked casually.

The light-haired boy replied, "He knows that there are boys missing. He wants them back."

"There are missing boys?" Hook continued to fake.

"Three, to be exact."

"Shame. But, I am afraid I am the only one here. I tried journeying to you island and found myself and my crew brutally attacked by some island natives. Lost many of my men. I returned here to recover from it all. Never even saw any boys."

"Is that so?" The boy asked.

"Please, feel free to look." Hook gestured his hand to below deck. He felt the hot drops of water pound upon him. He felt lucky though. The water dripping down his head and face easily covered the sweat on his brow.

The boy stared for a few moments. Hook would not be so willing as to allow them to search if he was attempting to hide three boys there. It was possible that it was not just that either. It seemed that the strength of the storm was growing. The Lost Ones were still young boys nevertheless and did not wish to become trapped by it. The leader of the three shook his head to the others who quickly climbed off of the ship. Hopping onto the ledge, the leader looked to Hook. "If you happen to find the lost boys, you know where we are."

Hook nodded as he watched him climb down from the rail of the ship. It seemed so much easier than he had expected. It was almost too easy. He leaned over the railing and watched as they rowed off in their small lifeboat, the leader boy's eye remained pierced upon the Captain. Hook sighed with sudden relief as the Lost Ones disappeared towards the island. But, as he turned around, he could feel the sudden sharpness jabbed into his left side. It caused him to groan from the pain. He looked upon the face of his attacker and whispered breathlessly, "You…" His face filled with anger and fury, but there was nothing he could do with a dagger in his side.

With a hand on Hook's shoulder and the other wielding the dagger, still plunged into the pirate's side, the attacker leaned forward and whispered in his ear, "I warned you that I could do much worse, dearie." Hook felt the knife twist, causing an agonizing pain before Rumplestiltskin ripped it out. Hook fell to the floor. He placed his hand to the bleeding wound and looked as the rain washed away the bright redness on his hand when he lifted it up. He looked up at the vicious crocodile. "You can't protect her forever, dearie. But I suppose the longer you do, the more chances I will get to finally kill you." He giggled mercilessly. "This is your second warning. The third, however, I might not be so… kind." With a wicked smile, the golden-skinned man disappeared, leaving Hook lying cold on the floor of the deck as rain poured onto him and blood leaked from his wound.

He crawled slowly, trying to get up. He had to get to them; he had to see her again. He promised not to leave her alone; he couldn't leave her and those boys when he promised to protect them. With every ounce of his strength, Hook forced himself to stand up, clutching the gash in his side with his hand. She's his motivation, his only will to keep going no matter the agonizing pain. Stumbling from the incoming dizziness from blood loss, he crashed upon the door to the bunk cabin. He burst inside and unlocked the compartment where she and the young boys were forced to hide. He leaned back against the wall as Regina quickly climbed out of the area and went to him.

She gasped at the sight of the blood and wound on his side. "What the hell happened?" She exclaimed as she went to his side and knelt down to inspect the wound.

"Rumplestiltskin." He whispered with a sudden groan as she placed pressure upon it with her hands. He looked down at her fearful eyes. Hiding her had caused this to happen to him; she couldn't help but feel responsible for it.

Regina looked to the boys. She didn't want them to see this. "Blake," she called to the older boy, "take them to the other room."

Blake, with his arms around Tucker and Willy, began to lead them out of the room. He stopped and asked, "Will he be alright?"

Hook mustered a smile and said breathlessly and in pain, "I'll be fine, my boy. No need to worry." She pressed down harder causing him to groan but released a laugh to comfort the young boys as they walked out. He looked down at her; she possessed so much worry in her eyes. "I'll be fine, love. If I have you to care for me."

"Don't get all sappy on my now, Hook. We need to get you to your cabin and take care of this quickly." She stood up and gestured for him to place an arm around her shoulder to prop him up and help him walk as they returned to his cabin.

0-0-0

She returned to the room, after tucking the three boys into bed, to find Hook sitting up on the bed. She moved to the dresser and began to takeout something that she could use for cleaning and dressing the wound.

"Take off your shirt." She said as she knelt on the ground beside the bed.

With a raised brow and a smirk, he replied, "So forthright, love. Would expect that you'd like to get to know me better first."

Regina rolled her eyes. "I need to clean and dress your wound. Don't go getting a big head." She smiled.

Hook quickly complied with her demand and tossed the bloodied shirt aside. Regina stared upon his masculine figure and his chest covered in dark hair. She stared him up and down before finally bringing her attention to the stab wound in his side. She poured a bit of alcohol onto the spare rag. Hook jumped and hissed at the feeling of alcohol burning the opened wound.

"I'm sorry." She said deeply as she dabbed as gently as possible on the wound.

"I'm fine, love." Hook sighed. "I can take it."

Regina took the other dressings and brought herself to kneel in between the Captains legs. She placed the fabric onto his stomach and began to wrap it around the lower half of his wait covering the wound tightly and keeping it secure. She looked into his deep blue eyes as she continued to wrap the fabric round his body. "Thank you." She said as she returned her eyes to her work.

He didn't take his eyes off of her. She was beautiful, so close to him in nothing but a dimmed candlelight. He smiled, "You're welcome, love."

"You didn't need to do that." She shook her head but didn't look up.

"Oh, but I didn't have much of a choice."

"What?" She asked with confusion in her voice.

"I promised to protect you, love. And that is what I am going to do, no matter the costs."

Regina looked up at the man with wide eyes as she finished securing the last of the dressing. "Well, this almost cost you your life."

Hook laughed, "And I would do this again in a heartbeat. So long as it meant that you were alright, love."

Regina closed her eyes and placed her head onto the man's stomach. She whispered quietly, "What is it that makes you want to protect someone like me?"

"Someone like you?" Hook asked as he caressed her dark hair with his hand.

She lifted her head up to look into his eyes. "Someone so… evil. You know what I've done, you've seen who I am, yet you still want to protect me? Anyone else would have let that mermaid drown me, or let me die at the hands of those natives or even let Rumplestiltskin just take me back."

Lifting her chin with two fingers, he replied, "I'm not just anyone else, love. And I know you; I've seen the true _you_, Regina. There is no evil in that heart. You've simply covered your heart in fear."

"And how would you know that?" She whispered.

"Because I've done the same. But we can't hold on to that forever." Hook leaned forward; the feeling of the wound seemed so painless in this moment as she was so close to him. Her hands rested on his thighs, she was only inches from him, and her breath was so warm on his abdomen. He cupped her face with his hand and placed a kiss to her forehead. He then moved lower to kiss her nose and finally reached her lips so tenderly and carefully, as if she was a precious object made of glass; too much force would break her suddenly. Their eyes shut tightly in the moment as he tried to pull her closer to him. Her arms slide up his thighs and onto his waist, gently not to disturb the wrapped wound on his side. Regina leaned forward and began to place sweet kisses upon the Captain's stomach and moved up to his chest as she began to stand up.

She stood before him with dark eyes; they made him question. He watched her as she untied the laces from behind her and allowed the dress to slip off of her shoulders and onto the floor gracefully. She approached the pirate slowly, stood closely to him and leaned over to kiss him. She pushed him to his back gently and allowed herself to move on top of him without parting their lips. He long hair flowed over the right side touching the left side of his face. She was so beautiful, he thought. Her smile was filled with radiance; it was a true smile, a smile that he had only seen in one other woman before this moment.

The couple rolled over, putting him on the top. His hand pushed back the dark strands of hair covering her face, but hesitated to kiss her again. He rested his hand upon her soft cheek and just stared into her eyes. "What?" She asked in a quiet whisper.

He gave a small smile. "I'm just making sure this is real."

"And is it?" She asked with a returning smile.

He kissed her again deeply and whispered into her lips, "I've never felt so real before in my life." Hook leaned over carefully, and blew out the candle leaving them in total darkness with nothing but one another and their longing passion burning inside of them.

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**Tell what you think! Thanks for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's note: Thank for reviews and more follows! I love that you like this story! Now for you enjoyment, Chapter 9.**

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Her eyes opened slowly still filled with sleep as the daylight shined through the tiny porthole above the bed. He was the first image to appear from the tired blur in her eyes. He laid on his back, with his hair ruffled and his head resting on the pillow, his blue eyes shut dreamily with a calm expression on his face. She couldn't help her self. With a sweet smile she leaned over to him and placed a tender kiss to his lips. The touch seemed to be returned when she felt him kiss back as he awoke. She pulled away slowly, his eyes remaining shut for a few seconds before opening and staring at her with an ear-to-ear smile.

"Good morning." She whispered as she slid her hand down his chest and around his waist. His face suddenly cringed when she accidently brushed over the still painful stab wound. She gasped and made an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry." She brought her hand back to his chest and remained careful with him.

"It's alright, love. I'm fine." He replied as he brushed back her long hair hanging in her face. "Just a bit sore, that's all." He laughed as he cupped his hand on the back of her head.

She whispered while leaning in, "That's understandable, dear." She giggled deeply and kissed his sweet lips again. She felt so happy; the happiest she had ever been in the longest time. Who would have thought that this pirate could bring out the person she used to be, the person she had longed to be? No one else had ever made her smile that way since Daniel; she thought she would never be able to again after his death. But there she was lying in the arms of a beautiful and strong man who wanted to do nothing more than protect her from anything and everything. It was almost too perfect.

"Are the boys awake?" Hook asked quietly, not taking his eyes off of her.

"I haven't heard them all morning." She replied.

"Well, then." Hook smirked as he rolled the beautiful brunette to her back. "I suppose we savor the time we have now, love." He laughed as he kissed her. He felt her soft hands caress his face as she giggled quietly.

The coupled suddenly heard the sound of doorknob jiggling followed by a light knocking. "Hey! Why is the door locked?" The sound of the youngest boy Tucker said from the other side of the door. "I wanna come in. Wake up! Wake up!" The four-year-old's knocking became more frantic and loud.

Regina began to laugh. She looked at the Captain with a raised brow and said, "I guess I spoke too soon."

The couple quickly got out of the bed. Regina slipped on one of the Captain's large white shirts and Hook put some comfortable pants on. Regina went to the door and unlocked it. She smiled as the giggly young boy ran into the room. "What took you so long?" He asked as he ran to the bed. They watched him try to hop onto the large bed but he was too short to reach. With a kind smile, Regina walked over and lifted the little one up before sitting back down on her side. He crawled in the middle of the couple with a huge smile stretched on his face. His brown hair was ruffled up and his green eyes sparkled lightly in the sunlight. He stood up in the center of the bed and began jumping up and down energetically. "Are we going to have another adventure today?" He asked excitedly.

Regina nervously held out her hand incase the boy lost balance. She looked to Hook and waited for his answer. "Perhaps, my boy."

Tucker jumped to his knees, making Regina's nerves calm a bit more. He asked, "Like what?"

Hook remained playful with the boy. "How would you like to learn how to sail a pirate ship?"

"Really?" He asked with utter excitement. He watched the Captain nod his with a smile. "Let's go!" Tucker began to crawl to the end of the bed.

Regina laughed, "Maybe give us some time to wake up, sweetheart."

"Oh… yeah." He said as he crawled back to his original place and sat down. He sat and stared at them for a few moments in silence. Within a minute he asked, "Are you awake now?"

Regina leaned over and smiled to him, "Why don't you go get the other two up?"

"They are awake! But Blaze doesn't want to go anywhere. He's being grumpy." The boy replied with a scrunched up face.

Hook looked at the young boy with concern and then came up with a little plan. "Why don't you bring Willy in here, my boy, and I shall talk with Blake." He watched the little one hop off of the bed and scurry out the door. Regina looked over the Captain with a confused expression. He simply leaned over, pecked her lips and whispered, "Trust me love," before he got up and walked out of the room.

0-0-0

Regina looked towards the door as the two rambunctious young boys ran in and jumped onto the bed. Well, Tucker attempted to but was still too short to reach and had to wait for Regina to lift him up. She listened to the boys laugh happily. As Regina beckoned, both boys stopped jumping and sat down at the edge of the bed with their legs dangling off.

She knelt down with a little bowl of water and a rag that she had taken to wash the boys' feet, hands and faces. As she began to soak the rag in the bowl, she wondered to herself. She had never expected that she would go from an Evil Queen to a modest woman caring for three young boys. In her old life, she wouldn't have dreamt of it. She wasn't even sure what prompted her to be doing it in that very moment, but she was. She enjoyed looking at the sweet and innocent smiles on their faces. It reminded her of how she used to feel so innocent; it was one of the greatest feelings in the world. That, and love.

She smiled as she took Tucker's little foot in her hands and began washing the dirty off of it, making him giggle as she tickled him. The sound of his laugh seemed to come right from his toes; it made Regina smile every time she heard it. As she moved to the young blonde Willy, she listened as Tucker began to speak.

"Are you like our new mother?" He asked bluntly, making Regina stop what she was doing and look at him with shock. She wasn't sure how to respond to such a question. Her eyes remained wide as she looked at the boy who didn't really understand why she was so surprised by his question.

She stuttered a bit, "Well… I…" Finally managing to get the right words out, she replied, "I don't think you'd want _me_ as your mother, dear."

"Why not?" Willy asked shyly.

"I just don't think I'd be very good at it. I'm not very good with love." Regina smiled as she rung out the warm water and proceeded to wash Tucker's hands.

"I think you're perfect at it!" Tucker exclaimed with a smile. "You hug us, and you wash us, and you tuck us in. That's what mommies do."

Willy added in, "And you don't have do be good at love." He smiled. "It's just there."

"Like magic!" Tucker said with a giggle.

"Yeah!" Willy exclaimed in return.

Regina looked at them curiously. These two boys, so young and so naïve, could remind her of something that she had forgotten so long ago. Love was magic; it was as simple as that. But she still had the hesitant feeling inside of her. _Mother._ She couldn't be a _mother_ to those boys. She couldn't be a mother to anyone. She was too afraid from her experience with her own mother. She did want to force a life onto them that they didn't want, she didn't want them to resent her like she did her own mother, she didn't was to mess up and make mistakes. But, truly, how could she explain that to two children?

After washing their faces, Regina gave a quick smile and stood. But she said nothing about what the boys had been referring to. She looked at them and said quietly, trying to hold back an outburst of emotions, "I'll be right back. Just stay here." She quickly left the room, shut the door behind her and leaned against it. She could finally breath and let that emotion out. She wasn't sure why it affected her so much, but that question scared her. A few small tears escaped from her eyes, but she forced herself to remain collected as she heard the sounds of Hook's voice coming from the bunk cabin where he was talking to Blake.

0-0-0

Hook leaned on the wooden rim of the top bunk as Blake lay in the bottom one. He faced away from the pirate, refusing to move or to speak. He could feel Hook's presence behind him and still refused to acknowledge it.

"What's up, my boy?" Hook casually stood by the bunk. Blake refused notice him or to respond. Slightly agitated, but still keeping his cool, the Captain continued, "Well, if you prefer not to talk, then you can just listen." Hook paused for a moment, hoping the boy would at least stir, but his stubborn air continued. "I'm assuming you still don't trust me for some reason, and I suppose that is your choice. But I am not one to be disrespected, boy. We brought you here to protect you out of the kindness of our own hearts. We didn't have to, but we did. So I suggest you stop lying around like a dead fish, get up and be a proper example to those other two boys who look up to you. Do you hear me, my boy?"

Blake shut his eyes tight, anger forming in every inch of his body. Suddenly, he turned around and sat up on the bed. He furiously responded to the Captain, "Stop calling me that! I am not _your_ boy, nor will I _ever_ be your boy! I don't ever want to be associated with a filthy, thieving pirate like _you_!"

Becoming slightly more threatening than necessary, Hook leaned over to meet the boy face to face. "You better learn to control your prejudices, boy. You know nothing about me."

"I know enough." The boy mumbled, his eyes drifting away from Hook's.

Becoming curious, Hook forced himself to back off. He wondered why the boy was so stubborn with him. Why he didn't trust him after everything that had happened. Surely Hook had earned his trust; he had the scar to prove it. He asked, "What is it that makes you hate me so much? You've known me no more than a day and yet you are already bent on loathing me just because I am a pirate. Who made you think this way?"

"I don't need to tell you anything."

"No you don't, but it doesn't seem like there are a whole lot of others who are willing to listen." Hook raised his brow at the boy. It was a rather harsh thing to say, but the boy could handle it. Any boy who had been in Neverland for as long as he had would not even be stirred by such a comment because he'd know that it was true. In Neverland, the boys were always alone with no one to listen to their pain, to hear their stories.

"Why would you be willing to listen?" Blake asked in a strong-willed, distant manner.

"I told you before, boy. You don't know me as well as you think." Hook smirked as he sat on the bunk beside the eleven-year-old.

Still refusing to look at the man, Blake uttered quietly his reason. "My father was a pirate once."

Hook's expression changed as he understood. "I presume _he_ is where you get your view of pirates from?"

Looking up at the pirate with tears welling in his eyes, he replied, "My father is the reason I got trapped here in Neverland." Hook looked at the boy confused. The boy's emotions just suddenly began to sputter as he continued to pour out his story in front of the Captain. "We were going to travel the realms together, just the two of us. It was going to be our adventure. But, every realm we travelled to, he began to change. We began to run out of food and money, so my father began to trade with others. Soon, he was forced into stealing and pirating to help us survive, but I knew all along. He wasn't just doing it because he had to; he wanted to, he liked it."

Hook stared at the boy curiously. He asked, "How did you get here, boy?"

"When we came to Neverland, the Lost Ones were quick to find us and wanted to take me to the shadow. I thought he would fight for me!" Blake looked at the pirate with desperate, sorrowful eyes. Tears streamed down the his face. "I was his _son_! Why didn't he fight to keep me?" Hook could see the loss in his dark eyes. Even now, after all of this time, Blake was still confused to why this was so. He looked into Hook's blue eyes and said, "My father traded me for a bag of gold. He _sold_ me to the Lost Ones, like I was nothing."

With concern in his expression, Hook placed a comforting hand to Blake's back. Unexpectedly, the pirate felt the young boy bury his head into the man's chest as he cried softly. Though surprised at his sudden gesture, Hook held the boy in his embrace and allowed him to cry. "Listen, boy," Hook said quietly, with his hand cupping Blake's head as he cried, "I cannot justify your father's actions, nor would I want to. But I _can_ tell you that not all pirates are that way. Would you like to hear a story?"

"I guess." He said as he sat up and wiped his tears from his eyes.

"When I was a young lad, maybe a bit older than you, my father and I planned to do the same as you and your father. We were going to go everywhere and sail every sea possible."

"What happened?" The boy seemed to be getting engrossed in the story.

Hook sighed, "He left one day and decided not to take me along. I never saw him again."

"So, why did you become a pirate?"

"I was a determined young man, a lot like you. I believed that I could find him one day; that he never meant to leave me. At the first opportunity, I joined a crew that was leaving to set sail of the seas and travel different realms. I thought perhaps I could find him again."

"Did you?" Blake's eyes seemed filled with wonder and hope.

Hook, disappointedly, shook his head. "As I grew older, the thought began to drift from my mind. But I stayed with the crew and found a new love for sailing and the seas. You'd be amazed at the adventure and the wonder you feel when steering that helm, my boy. _That_ is why I became a pirate." Hook smiled. "You see? We are surprisingly alike, _and_ not all pirates are filthy thieves. Some just like the feeling of freedom that the seas give them. Now, come along." The sentimental moment seemed to be enough for Hook. He wanted to change the subject quickly. "Enough stories for one day. Why don't you join the others in my cabin. I'll be there momentarily."

Blake managed a small smile and nodded his head. He stood up and walked to the door. Turning to face Hook, he said, "Thank you. And…" He hesitated, "I'm sorry."

"It's alright." Hook nodded as he watched him leave the room. With a raised brow, Hook smirked. "You can come in now, love." He said with a laugh. He looked to the door as she showed herself. She leaned against the doorframe with a smile on her face. He stood up and walked toward her. He asked her, "How long where you listening?"

Still holding the bowl of dirty, brown water and with the partially wet rag draped over her arm, she looked at him, "Long enough." She set the bowl and the rag down on a small table and then returned her gaze to the man. Quickly walking back to him, she slid her hands to caress his face as she placed her lips onto his. She wasn't sure if it was still shock from the night before, from the question she was asked by the boys, the sincerity in which he had just told that boy the story of his past, or even a combination of them all. Her emotions seemed to be running wild after all of the time she had been holding it in and trying to control it. She felt as if her heart would burst. It seemed too good to be true; it seemed to be happening all too fast. But, did she really want to doubt this? If she even doubted her happiness for one fleeting moment, would she lose it all?

She felt Hook slowly part their lips from the kiss. He smile genuinely, but said nothing. Taking a hold of her hand he led her out of the cabin to return to the children waiting for them; waiting for an adventure.

* * *

**Be sure to review and tell me what you think of the chapter. Where do you think this new "adventure" will take our characters?**

**Unfortunately, the next chapter will not be posted for a while. I will be heading on vacation with some friends for the week. Please stay patient and I will get you chapter 10 asap. Love you all! Thanks for reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Thank you for your marvelous patience. I would like to give you Chapter 10. I want to try making the chapters a bit longer for my readers and I want to make sure that they are perfect! Please Review, critique, offer criticism or ideas. I'd love to hear! Enjoy.**

* * *

She leaned back against the railing carefully as she watched him. Holding the youngest boy in his right arm and showing the young blonde how to steer with the hook on his left, his smile became more radiant than ever before. She looked upon the smiling faces of the two boys as they experienced the feeling of bonding with a sort of father figure; she listened to the man's cheerful laugh as the young boy in his arms whispered silly things in his ear.

The oldest boy stood beside Regina and watched as well. He looked up at her and asked, "How long have you been in Neverland?"

Regina looked down at the boy and smiled kindly. The two had never really had the chance to talk just the two of them since they had met. She had wanted to, but with all that was happening, with the questions that the younger ones had asked her, she wasn't sure if getting too attached to these boys was the best idea. "I'm not entirely sure, dear. I suppose one month or so."

The boy nodded. "I could have guessed. You don't really seem like a pirate, you know. Not like the Captain."

"That's because I'm not." She shook her head.

The boy looked at her and tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Then why are you here?"

The woman sighed. Her story was too complicated, especially for an eleven-year-old boy. She answered vaguely, "I just wanted a little adventure in my life."

Before he could ask her to elaborate, Blake felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over to the Captain standing next to him and smiled. The man said, "Why don't you help the other two at helm, my boy." Blake nodded at the man's signal. He wished to speak to Regina privately. As the boy stepped away, Hook took his place beside the woman.

He could see it in her eyes, the way that she looked at the children with doubt. With the wind blowing her hair all around, the pirate gently moved his hand to tuck a few strands behind her ear. Regina brought her left hand to his right, which now rested on her cheek. She closed her eyes at the feeling of his caress and then slowly brought his hand down off of her face. She looked down and sighed as she held his hand in hers. With her thumb, she gently brushed over the rough skin of his knuckles.

As her eyes gazed down, his remained solely on her. When she sighed, he could just feel the anxiousness in her breath. "What's on your mind, love?"

Without looking up, she painted a little smirk on her face and replied, "It's nothing."

"Regina," the pirate said as he lifted her chin with the cold hook on his left arm, "I can see it in your eyes. It's something. Just tell me."

She stared into his eyes and continued to rub his knuckles with her thumb. With a quiet, sorrowful voice, she replied, "Killian, I can't be a mother. I… don't want to be a mother!"

Hook shook his head confused, "Regina. Regina, calm down. Where did all of this come from? I never said-"

Regina interrupted him, "The boys. They asked me if I was their new mother." She shook her head in distress and stared back down at his calloused hands, "I didn't know what to say. I tried to explain that I couldn't be a mother. I mean you've seen the things I've done. You've seen who I am. I'm not a mother. I'm just not."

"Regina," Hook let go of her hand. He placed his to her cheek to try to calm her. "It's alright. Just calm yourself." He looked into her eyes with a reassuring smile. "You are not the Evil Queen anymore, love. And I have seen the way you treat those boys. You've grown to love them in a mere two weeks. What makes you think that you _can't _be their mother?"

Tears began to well in her eyes. "Because I just can't. I'm afraid."

"Of what?" Hook seemed confused of her vague answers.

"Of hurting them." Hook shook his head, leaned forward and kissed the woman's forehead. She placed her hands to his chest as their foreheads touched. With her eyes closed, she let herself just feel his breath and his comforting touch, "Everything that I have tried to love gets ripped from me sooner or later. Daniel, my freedom, my life," She paused for a moment and whispered, "you."

"Regina, I am right here. I will never leave you." Hook whispered. "Remember what I promised you. I will keep my word; I always keep my word. I will _never_ leave you to be alone."

Regina pushed away suddenly. With fearful yet angry eyes, she replied, "You don't know that! Just look at what Rumpelstiltskin did to you only a week ago. You could have been killed!"

"But I wasn't."

"But you _could_ have!" Regina gripped tightly at the collar of the pirate's shirt. "I don't want something to happen to you or those boys because of me. I wouldn't be able to live with myself." She shook her head, letting a tear fall down her cheek.

"Regina, don't push me or those boys away just because you are scared. That's just what the crocodile wants you to think. Look at me," He lifted her chin once more, "I gave you my word to protect you and to protect those children, and I am not going to go back on that. But you must promise me that you will not push us away. We can make it through all of this. I promise." Hook wiped the tears from her face and leaned in to kiss her.

The touch of their lips was followed by two little voices, "Eww!" They both said loudly and in unison.

As the couple parted, they both laughed at the two naïve children. Resting his cheek to her head, Hook looked over to the boys standing there and then stared out on the horizon. He looked over to an island, which seemed to be inhabited with a town of some sort; it was still a bit far to recognize fully. "Killian, what are you looking at?" Regina asked trying to spot it on the horizon.

"See right there?" Hook pointed out to the woman and the young boys. "That is Pirates' Cove." He peaked over to the oldest boy and smirked. "I'm going to introduce you to a few old friends of mine." He winked to Blake who smiled at him and giggled lightly. "Come along, my boy." He addressed Blake. "I believe it's your turn to learn your hand at the helm. I do need a new first mate after all." He patted the boy's back with his hand.

As Hook stepped away from her, Regina brought her eyes to look over at the two smiling boys staring at her. She walked up to them without speaking a word, knelt down in front of them with a gentle smile on her face, and pulled them both into her embrace. Even a four and seven-year-old could tell that that was her way of telling them something. Young Tucker and Willy wrapped their arms around her neck and hugged her tightly.

Letting go of Regina, Willy noticed a tear on her cheek. Taking his little hand and wiping the tear, he asked her, "Why are you sad?"

Regina shook her head and smiled. "I'm not, dear."

"But you were crying." Tucker chimed in.

"I was crying because I was scared, but I'm alright now. I promise." She placed her hand to cup the little boy's cheek.

"Yes. Because we will help you not be scared!" The naïve little boy said loudly and confidently, which made the woman laugh.

She wouldn't push them away, but she was still doubtful. Of course she trusted Killian, but that didn't mean that she was not right. Rumpelstiltskin would be back and she didn't want to risk their lives for her sake. She needed to find a way to protect them from the powerful man's next attack. Perhaps something or someone from this Pirates' Cove could assist her.

0-0-0

Hesitant to step on the rickety docks as she held the youngest boy in her arms, Regina looked up at the Captain, "Are you sure its a good idea to bring the boys back on land with the Lost Ones searching for them?"

The man held out his hand and helped the woman onto the docks. "The Lost Ones wouldn't even attempt to set foot here, love. They may have the audacity to intimidate one particular crew, but they would never survive a minute in Pirates' Cove and they know it. This is probably the safest place in Neverland for these boys. For all of us." Hook then picked Willy up with his good arm and stepped closely to Regina who held the youngest boy in one arm and kept her other around Blake's shoulders. Hook looked to Regina. "Now you stay as close to me as possible. Try not to make eye contact or any expression that might insult a pirate."

Regina's eyes widened. "I thought you said this place was safe."

"So long as you stick to me, it is." Hook began to lead her through the dirty and grimy streets of the dark island. All roads were made of dirt, filthy men sat or lied in the mud on every corner begging for either money or rum. One man spotted Regina and gave her a disgusting, toothless smile. The dirt on his face and his mangled hair made him seem even lower than that of a peasant.

Regina held Tucker tighter and whispered, "Sweetheart, close your eyes and hold on to me." She pulled Blake closer to her side as they passed them. Looking to Hook holding the third boy in his arm, she asked, "Who are all of these men?"

"They are what used to be good-standing pirates, love. Men who let their greed for treasures and such control them. They gave away all they had for what scraps they could get, and now they are here with nothing left. They are forced to live in the mud and beg for all eternity. It's what we call Oblitus Avarus, the forgotten greedy."

Heading into the back of a grotesque alleyway, Regina shivered at the wretched smell. This place was far beyond vial. Hook led her and the boys to a backdoor entrance to some sort of inn.

"Really, Killian? You're going to bring these children into a bar?" Regina asked with astonishment.

Hook smirked, "It's an inn that just happens to have a bar, love. What else do you expect me to do? We need to eat and a place to sleep for the night. And after everything that has happened with the Lost Ones and Rumpelstiltskin in no more than a week, I don't believe my ship is the safest place at the moment."

The man raised his brow and waited for a response from the woman. She remained silent and nodded her head. She supposed that Killian was the expert of Neverland, so she should trust him and what he was doing. The man knocked on the backdoor with his hook three times in a strange pattern; it was like a code. A small compartment of the door slid open to reveal a set of dark, dreary eyes. "No!" The old, scratchy voice said with excitement. "No, it can't be!" The man started to become even more excited. The compartment shut instantly followed by the entire door opening to reveal a short man with gray hair and a large beer belly sticking out of his pants. The rather jolly man grinned and gave a chuckle. "I don't believe it! Killian Jones!" The man leaned in to the Captain for a short embrace and continued, "How long has it been?"

"Far too long, mate!" The Captain replied with a smile.

"Well, come in. Come in! The men will be dying to see you again!"

Hook looked over to Regina, whose eyes seemed confused. She knew very little of the Captain's past. Granted, he knew very little of hers as well. It had only been two weeks after all and not much of that time could be spent talking to one another while they struggled to survive the likes of mermaids, natives, the Lost Ones and Rumpelstiltskin.

She gave a calming smile, kept two of the boys close to her and followed the pirate into an old room. Men sat everywhere drinking and conversing. It seemed much more elegant of a place than she would have expected. Of course there was a bar, but it was something simple, there was a fireplace with rather comfortable looking chairs and a table in front of it, evenly set tables for the men and even leather bind booths in the corners of the room. Even the men were not what she was expecting. Yes, good amounts were drunk, but they were rather happily drunk. They were all dressed properly and cleanly. The captains could be clearly distinguished from the crewmates.

While leading the group, the old stout man continued to converse with the Captain. "The group hasn't changed a bit, you know. They're all the same since the last time you were here. What was that? Thirty or so years ago, mate?"

"I can't recall."

"Well, that means it's been far too long, Cap'n!" The man laughed as they approached the table with four other men sitting and drinking. The old man introduced the first one on the left as Captain Edward Miggs of the Satan's Coral, a thin man, young with light hair who wore several badges of honor on his vest. It seemed that he had managed to gain his high status quickly in Pirates' Cove, from what Regina noticed about him. He was rather big headed in the way he presented himself. To his left was an older bald man who they just called Curly. He seemed to be a first mate or just crewman of one of the others, but he also seemed widely respected even by the Captains. He was stout man, similar to the innkeeper standing beside Hook. Beside Curly, sat another old man with dark hair and a thick beard. He was a Spanish Captain called Juan Diaz the Black. He captained the ship Serpiente de Neptuno, or Neptune's Serpent. The last man to the right was young. He actually looked similar to Killian with the deep blue eyes and dark hair. The chiseled features were closely matched and the man had similar stubbled hairs on his chin.

"This," Killian gestured to the last man, "is my brother. Captain Elijah Jones of the Hangman's Noose. He's almost as honorable a pirate as I am." The man smiled as his brother stood up to embrace him.

The man laughed, "Which would mean I have no honor, brother." He joked, patting Hook's back cheerfully. He stared at his brother's face and gave a few good pats to his cheek, "You've aged, Killian. You look terrible."

"I admire your attempt at a compliment, Eli." Hook laughed as the man sat back down.

"Come along, milady." The innkeeper gestured to Regina. "Please let me show you and your sons to you your rooms. You must need to rest." Regina's eyes simply widened a bit at the assumption that the boys were their sons. Before she could protest or speak a word, the old man had a hand to her back and was leading her and the three boys upstairs to a set of rooms.

Hook smiled as he watched her and the boys climb the stairs. He nodded to her, assuring her that it was alright and that he would be up there with her shortly. As they disappeared, he pulled a chair and sat beside his brother.

"Well, well, little brother." Eli said with a raised brow and a smirk. "Who would have thought thirty years would change you so much?"

"What are you talking about?" Hook asked confused.

Edward sipped his pint casually and smirked, "We just never expected you to be the type to settle, Killian. Weren't you ranting about travelling the seven seas and the realms before you left? How you sailed alone and fended only for yourself?" The man banged the empty glass to the table and gestured the barkeep for another.

"And now look at you." Eli continued with a smile as he leaned back in his chair. "A beautiful woman and three boys of your own. Never expected that from you, Kil."

"I must say she's a fine lass, my boy." Old Curly said holding up his flask. "A bit fidgety, but certainly a beaut!"

"You can't exactly blame her, mate. She's only been in Neverland for a month. Had a run in with a mermaid within the third or fourth day. And not much has gone smoothly since."

"Well, my boy. Glad you made it here safely, especially with three boys to worry about. How'd you manage to get them passed the Lost Ones and the Peter Pan?" Curly asked.

"We found ways. And I should mention, the boys are not ours." Hook laughed.

"I'm glad you said that, Cap'n, because I was tempted to let you know that those two younger ones look nothing like you." Diaz said with a deep laugh and a heavy accent.

Hook laughed and replied, "Yes, that would be quite a shock to us all." Hook received a pint from the barkeep as he refilled the rounds. Taking a long drink, Hook continued, "They are a few escaped lost boys just looking to be safe from that damned Pan."

"And you took them with you?" Hook's brother said with shock. "Kil, that's a death sentence in Neverland."

"Then I shall figure out a way to get us out of Neverland sooner or later. What else was I supposed to do?"

"Oh god. You've become attached to them." Edward replied drearily. "You and your need to sympathize."

"Enough, Miggs." Curly shut him up. "Perhaps you should try to sympathize for others a little more. Your egotistical behavior won't get you anywhere good either." Curly turned to Hook and asked, "How do you suppose to get that woman, three boys and yourself out of Neverland without attracting Pan's attention, boy? It's not smart."

"But it's my only option, mate. I gave Regina my word. I promised to protect her and those children if it was the last thing I did. You know that I do not go back on my word."

"A true pirate never does, Cap'n." Diaz smirked and drank.

Eli glared at his brother. They had never really grown up together. Eli remained with their mother when Killian had chosen to leave with his father. Eli had his doubts about the man; he feared the man's greed, but Killian had been too young and naïve of his father to realize the truth. He always believed his father to be a great man, even after he abandoned him at a young age. It took a long time for Killian to realize it.

The brothers had reunited at Pirates' Cove long ago. It was revealed that Eli had joined a crew to search for his younger brother after their mother died. Even when not seeing one another, the men had a connection. They knew one another better than most people even when separated for so long.

Eli could see it in the way Killian had mentioned her name. The way he looked; it was that unconditional love that Killian had also had as a child for their father. It was undying; something that the man swore he would never reveal again after he gave up his search for his father and again after Milah's death. "Brother, you are falling for this woman."

"What?" Hook looked over puzzled at his brother's random remark.

"I can see it. You never give your word unless you truly mean it, unless you want to show someone that they can trust you." With a thoughtful expression he continued. "You love her."

"Clearly." Curly responded placing his empty flask to the table. "That's obvious."

"Good for you, mate." Diaz lifted his glass in the air before drinking.

"Much appreciated, gentlemen, but I am afraid that I must leave this wonderful conversation in which you are all badgering me about my life and choices. I have three young boys and a beautiful woman awaiting me." The man stood and formally addressed his fellow mates before making his way up the stairs.

0-0-0

The sound of the door squeaking open compelled the woman to look up from where she sat. He stepped inside quietly and shut the door behind him with a smile. A sight appeared before him making his smile grow wider. There she sat with a book in her right hand. She was dressed in a beautiful white nightgown, so pure. Her hair was pulled back into a loose braid. Hook imagined that this was who the beautiful Queen had been once before, before all of the pain and hate that overcame her life.

Her other hand carefully stroked the dark brown hair of the little boy whose head rested in her lap. His eyes remained shut as he slept soundly with his left hand placed sweetly on the woman's thigh. The other side of the bed was inhabited by the two older boys. Blake, though he always tried to put on his tough air, revealed his innocent love for the younger boy with his arms wrapped around the little blonde. The two boys slept, resting their heads on the soft pillow.

Hook looked into Regina's eyes and stared at her smile as she brushed back Tucker's dark hair. As he walked closer to her, she whispered, "I didn't want to wake them."

The pirate leaned over and kissed the woman tenderly before going to pick the little boy off of her lap. Draping him over his shoulder, he listened to the boy give a small moan before drifting back to sleep. Hook handed Tucker to Regina before waking the other two to wake them and lead them to their room.

The second room was simple, similarly set up as the first, but with four smaller beds rather than one large one. Hook helped Willy and Blake climb into their beds, tucked them in and wished them a good night. As he did so, Regina set the youngest into a bed beside the window. She gently placed his head onto the pillow and listened to him hum slightly as she pulled the covers over him.

As she brushed back his hair one more time, the little boy whispered sleepily, "I love you, Mommy."

In that instant, Regina couldn't control her emotion. She let out a small sigh as she smiled. She had never realized how much she could truly love someone until that moment, until that little boy called her _mommy_. Controlling tears, Regina leaned forward and kissed the boy's forehead. She whispered, "I love you too, sweetheart," before getting up and following Hook back to their room.

0-0-0

After pulling back the covers, she felt a warm hand touch her shoulder and slide slowly down her arm. His cheek pressed against her temple as the arm with the Hook wrapped around her waist carefully. She closed her eyes and let the heat take over her body. She tilted her head to the side allowing him to press his lips to her neck. She could feel the beating of his heart through her back as he pressed his chest closer to her.

Regina turned around quickly. She pulled the collar of his shirt and forced a powerful kiss to his lips. She tugged him closer and led him to the bed without letting the passionate kiss go. The couple climbed underneath the cool sheets together remaining as close as possible. Regina let her head rest on the pillow as the Captain kissed her once more.

As they parted, noses an inch away, Hook whispered to his lover, "I think I may be falling in love with you, your Majesty." He smiled.

Before he could kiss her again, he was stopped by a hand to his chest. Regina smirked and asked deeply but with a playful tone, "You _think_, Captain?"

He forcefully leaned closer. "I _know_," he whispered, his eyes practically piercing into her soul.

Regina teasingly lifted her head to him to touch their lips slightly, but pushed him away before it became a full kiss. She whispered with a devious smile, "Then prove it to me."

Hook felt the woman's hand move to the back of his head and pull him down. Their lips crashed, their eyes closed, and they both sighed deeply. He could feel the somewhat demanding presence of the old Queen in the way that she moved with him. But it still wasn't too forceful; it was simply passionate. It was his signal. She loved him back.

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed. And don't worry, this story won't get dreary or too fluffy. I'm planning a few fun game changers for chapter 11 ;)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: I apologize for my severe writer's block. I have finally managed to get you a chapter 11. This chapter takes place after Hook, Regina and the boys have been in Pirate's Cove for about six months. So relationships have actually become closer and changed a bit (all for the better). **

**Also, be aware that the beginning part in the italics is rather dark and morbid. If you prefer not to read it, just skip ahead to the part not in the italics. Enjoy.**

* * *

_Standing on deck, a small breeze making her hair blow in her face, Hook held her closely. She stared into his eyes as his hand caressed her cheek and pushed back the hair in her face. He wanted to see her beauty before he placed a precious kiss to her lips. Her breath felt soft on his skin as she exhaled lightly in the midst of the kiss. Her hands were placed gently on his bare chest as she leaned in closer allowing their bodies to press against one another's. _

_As their lips parted, he stared at her and watched her open her big brown eyes. The corners of her mouth lifted slowly into a kindhearted smile. "I love you, Killian." She whispered._

_As the Captain opened his mouth to return his affection, Regina's eyes suddenly opened wide. She gasped and backed away from the pirate whose smile disappeared instantly. The woman fell to the ground and Killian, wide-eyed, looked at the monster that now stood over her with a bloodied dagger. _

_"Regina!" Hook screamed as he fell to his knees, turned her over to face him and took her in his arms. He cradled her in his left arm and placed his hand to her stone cold cheek. "No, no, no! Not again. Love, don't leave me." He whispered between his sobs. He couldn't lose her; he had already lost one love, he couldn't bear loosing another._

_"Save your breath, dearie. She's gone. Shame too." The man standing over them giggled. He sighed as the furious and distressed pirate glared up at him. "See how easy it is for me to take away everything you love, everything you've worked so hard to keep safe." The man then gestured to his left. _

_Killian looked over, tears falling down his face and still clutching his lost love in his arms. There hung their three boys by their feet, their lifeless bodies dangling from the mast. He couldn't bear to look at them any more. Bringing his attention back to the crocodile with so much rage, the pirate was so tempted to destroy this monster, but he couldn't let go of her even if she was gone. "You bloody crocodile, you will pay for this with your life!"_

_"Oh, dearie, dearie, dear. I suppose you should think twice before trying to break a deal with me then. She belongs to me and I will have her no matter the costs. " The playful expression on Rumplestiltskin's face disappeared as his voice deepened, "This is your final warning pirate."_

_"What are you talking about?" Hook shook his head in confusion._

_"I've had enough of your attempts to run from me, pirate, and I have given you many, many chances to do as I say. You have three days to return the Queen to me. You do so and I'll see to it that the rest of your sweet family lives. You try to run again, and this," he gestured to the dead woman's body and then to the lifeless children, "will be the price of your actions." The villainous man suddenly disappeared followed by a flash of light._

The Captain's eyes shot open as he awoke from what seemed to be the most realistic nightmare. Breathing heavily and shaking from the nervousness, he glanced over to his right. It calmed him to see her lying there safely with the little boy sleeping sweetly in her arms. Both of them remand asleep as she cuddled the boy tightly, her chin resting on his little head.

Though he seemed calmer as he stared upon them, the nightmare did not seem to escape from his mind. He didn't want to think of his family being in danger; he couldn't image that happening to them if Regina didn't go with him. But he couldn't lose her; the boys couldn't lose her. He promised her, gave her his word. As he carefully slipped out from under the sheets, he thought to himself that it was about time he found a way to get them out of Neverland and to a place where they could just be safe and happy. A place where even Rumplestiltskin couldn't find them.

0-0-0

"Good morning, brother!" The Captain was greeted as he made his way down the stairs into the dinning area.

"Morning to you as well, Eli." Hook still seemed a bit shaken up about that dream. Eli could plainly tell that something was wrong just by the expression on his face.

"Kil, you need a drink?"

"At this hour? No, thank you. I think I'll just have myself something to eat before I head out." He smiled as he sat at the booth across from his older brother.

"Where are your lady and the boys?" Eli asked curiously with a raised brow. Hook didn't notice his brother's expression, but it seemed rather too curious. More suspicious actually.

The Captain didn't look at his brother, but answered, "Still asleep. I was hoping you could just look out for them today. I have a little business to take care of myself and I'd prefer not to bring them along."

"Sure, sure." The man replied willingly. "But, was is it you don't want them coming along for, brother? Something you don't want them to know?"

"Something I just don't want them to know _yet_." Hook replied. "I want to make sure that it's possible." The pirate sighed, "I _need_ it to be possible."

"What?"

"A way out." Hook looked to his brother nervously.

"You mean out of Neverland? Brother, why would you wish to leave this place?" Eli laughed as he drank.

"Because, unlike you, I have my family to think about. I have three boys who are not safe here and a wife-"

"Wife?"

"No."

"You slipped, Kil. I heard you perfectly."

"It was just a slip. No need to dwell on it."

"Fine. Fine. But if you feel that way about the woman then why not ask her?"

"It's complicated, Eli. Nevertheless, mate, I need to get us out of here. Somewhere we can be safe. I mean we can't live here in Pirates' Cove forever. It's been months already. I can't subject them to this much longer."

"You know that, wherever you go, you will age. You'll grow old, mate." Eli warned.

Hook shook his head and laughed, "And why should that matter? If I am with her, with my family, Eli, I won't mind growing old."

"So you'll give everything up for them? Brother, you have to think about this. Your freedom and your sailing."

"I've sailed through every realm possible. I've been a pirate for over three centuries. Maybe I want this new life. A chance to actually have a wife and children. Be the father that _we_ could never have. Wouldn't you?"

Eli laughed and shook his head. "Never. Once a pirate, always a pirate, brother. You'll see that eventually." His vice seemed to deepen strangely.

Hook looked at him confused. It seemed more like a threat than anything else. But, he shrugged it off, stood from his seat and smirked at his brother. "Well see about that, mate." He said before walking away and out of the inn.

0-0-0

"Well good morning, my boy." Hook's brother greeted Blake.

Blake managed a meek smile, "Morning."

"Come, boy, sit here." He beckoned.

"Where is my father?" Blake asked as he sat down.

Eli stared at the boy confused for a moment. He suddenly realized, "Oh, you meant Kil. Right. He had to go out for the day and asked that I watch you boys and his lady."

"Okay." Blake was still hesitant to really talk to the man. There was something about him he just didn't like. Something familiar.

"I was thinking you all could join me on my ship today. What do you think of that, my boy?"

Blake could tell that Eli was trying much too hard to befriend him for some reason. "I don't think my mother will agree to that."

Eli laughed at the boy. "Oh I'll find a way to convince her." The two paused for a bit before Eli continued with small talk. "So, boy, how old are you?"

"Eleven." He replied.

"How long have you been eleven?" He smiled.

Blake looked up at him with a slightly shocked look. Not many people would ask that of a lost boy. Most had the decency not to. But he looked at the face of the pirate; he seemed rather dumbfound when asking the question. Blake answered plainly, "I can't remember."

"Must have been a long time."

"Yes."

"Were you relieved when my brother and the woman found you and the others?"

Blake smiled a little. "At first, I didn't really trust them, but yes. I am. They've become my parents and… I love them." It wasn't easy for the boy to say such a thing. He didn't exactly understand what prompted him to say it to that particular man at that time, but it was the first time that he had genuinely said that he love them. It felt good for him to admit.

Eli laughed to himself, "That's sweet, boy. It's a shame that you'll have to go back."

"What?" The warm, comfortable feeling Blake felt suddenly disappeared.

"Well, boy, you were given to those Lost Ones for a reason. You needed to be punished." He still seemed cheery as he stated it.

"What are you talking about? How do you know how I got here?"

Eli leaned forward on the table, "Son, I know it's been a couple of centuries, but can't you recognize your own father?"

"Father?" Blake's eyes widened with fear. "But you-"

"You were supposed to stay on that island, boy. It's where the _unwanted_ boys are brought."

"Unwanted?" Blake questioned.

"You're the reason I lost your mother. She never wanted you and neither did I. So what better way to rid of you and make some money? I brought you to Neverland. But you were not meant to leave and certainly not meant to be my brother's son. You need to go back."

"Why are you telling me all of this? Why do I have to go back?"

Eli grabbed the boy's arm, keeping him from getting up. "Because, this is your punishment. You and those boys will go back, I will get my reward, and the lady… well, I can think of something with her." He smirked.

"I won't let you do this." Blake replied viciously.

"You _will_ unless you want to watch the woman die right in front of you, son." Eli slowly pulled a pistol from the inside of his coat. "You will keep your mouth shut. Understand me?" Blake bowed his head and refused to answer. Eli squeezed his arm tight. "Damnit, boy! Do you understand me?"

"Yes!" He exclaimed feeling the pain.

"Good." Eli let go of the boy's arm. "Now eat something." He smiled as he pushed a bowl in front of Blake. The boy glared at this man. How could he ever have believed that this man was his father? No. His real father was the man who had welcomed him even though he hated him, the man who protected him and almost lost his life to save them, and the man who listened to him when he told him his story. Blake only wished he was here now; he wished he could tell him that he loved him for real. He wished he were there to protect him.

0-0-0

Regina awoke to the sounds of giggling and the feeling of bouncing on the bed. She opened her eyes quickly and noticed the two younger boys jumping around playfully to wake her up. "Wake up! Wake up, wake up, wake up!" She listened to the youngest boy laugh and yell. Regina laughed at the little boy as she stretched her arms. Tucker jumped to his knees and crawled up to her. He whispered, "Are you awake now? Mommy?"

She laughed again, "I am awake." She slowly sat up in the bed and leaned back on the headboard. Tucker wasn't hesitant to crash into her arms for a big morning hug. Soon after, Willy joined in. Regina couldn't help but smile. She squeezed both boys tightly in her embrace before releasing them. "Where is Blake?" She asked the boys.

Willy replied quietly, "He was hungry, so he went downstairs."

"Oh," Regina said raising a brow and trying to sound amused to the young boy, "Then perhaps we should join him."

"Yes." Tucker hissed with excitement. With a rather dramatic tone, he added, "I'm _starving_!"

It made Regina laugh to see these boys being so happy and silly. So much time had gone by with no troubles or fears; the boys as well as she and Killian were able to just be themselves for those months. They grew to become a real family when they didn't have to worry about their lives being in danger.

She and the two young boys made there way down the stairs to the dinning area, where they found Blake sitting down in a booth with Hook's brother Eli. Tucker and Willy ran to sit beside Blake with little giggles trailing the entire time. Regina casually walked to the round booth and sat across from the older man. She smiled kindly; he smiled back. She didn't particularly pay attention to this man. Even after being there for six months, she hadn't had the chance to become acquainted with him. But the way he looked at her made her rather nervous and uncomfortable.

"Good morning, milady." He greeted her.

Making no eye contact with him as she worked to calm down the two young boys who were a bit hyper, she replied quietly, "Good Morning." She glanced over to Blake, who had his head buried in his food anxiously. She gave another casual glance to the man across from her and feared of what he might have said to Blake to make him seem so transparent. She placed Tucker on her lap and scooted closer to him. Brushing his hair from his face, she asked, "Sweetheart, are you alright?"

"Yeah." He mumbled, "Just tired."

Regina could feel there was something more, possibly something he was scared to tell her because of the man sitting beside them. But she couldn't pry. "Alright." She just mustered up a smile to reassure the boy. "Where is Killian? I thought you'd be with him."

Eli quickly responded, "Kil wanted me to keep an eye on you and your boys for the day while he was out. He said for personal business."

"Oh." Regina gave a slight nod.

"I have my own business to attend to on my ship, if you wouldn't mind spending the day with me at sea. I'm sure your boys would enjoy it." He looked to the younger boys, to get them excited.

"Yes!" Tucker exclaimed.

Regina shook her head. "I don't think Killian would want the boys off of this island. I don't want to risk-"

"You'll be with me the entire time. I won't be putting anyone in any danger, milady. I promise you. And it is the only way I can keep my word with Kil. You know how we pirates are with our word."

"I do, but I have to think of my children first and foremost and being in the middle of the sea does not seem like the safest thing at the moment. I don't want to risk it. We'll be fine here on our own." Regina said with a kind smile as she held Tucker on her lap.

The pirate laughed. "You are quite the stubborn woman. I can see why Kil has fallen for you, love, but I am afraid," the sound of a click ensues and Eli suddenly leaned back in the booth to reveal a pistol in his right hand, "you _will_ be joining me on my ship today whether you like it or not."

Regina's eyes widened suddenly at the sight of the gun. Her mouth agape from the shock, she held her boys closely.

"Get up." The pirate demanded of the family. Regina quickly complied and got her boys up while holding the youngest in her arms. "We are just going to casually walk out and head to the docks. Alright, love?" Regina remained quiet and distant. She kept all three boys close to her. God, did she wish she had magic right now. She felt so helpless, unable to do anything but obey the pirate's commands. They strolled out of the inn casually without a single soul noticing.

0-0-0

Hook stared at the small vile and then looked over at the elderly gypsy woman. "So this will do it?"

"Yes. Mermaids have much more power than people realize, dear. One tear and one drop of venom from a mermaid's fang shall lead you to whatever realm you desire."

"Thank you." Hook nodded with a smile.

As he turned to walk away, she continued, "But I warn you. That vile will only grant you a one-way trip. You can never return. Be sure that you know where you wish to go because that will be where you stay."

The pirate nodded with understanding as he carefully placed the vile in a small sac and put it away safely. As he left the gypsy woman, he thought to himself. He found the way out, an escape for his family. There was no need to worry about the Lost Ones or Rumplestiltskin any longer. They could finally have a normal life as a family. They could be happy.

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**So, what do you think? Please review. Thank you for reading!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: Hey Oncers! So glad you are still enjoying this story and hope you liked my little twist. I am having such a blast writing this fic. It's probably one of my favorites to write. Please enjoy chapter 12. It's pretty intense.**

* * *

Regina could feel the pistol in the pirate's hand pressing into her back as they swiftly walked to the docks. She held Tucker closely to her, cupping his head and keeping it against her shoulder so that he couldn't see anything. Willy kept a grip on her waist as they walked, but Blake stayed distant. Regina knew that he knew something and couldn't say. She could tell also that the boy felt guilty, as if it was his fault that this was happening.

Stepping onto the docks, Regina felt the gun press a little harder to shove her forward. "Keep moving." Eli said viciously.

She kept walking. "You're not going to get away with this." She said deeply and with anger. "Killian-"

"Kil is a bloody idiot for thinking that he can just get up and change his life after all of this time, love. Damn man doesn't even know what to think. Giving up an eternity of youth and piracy for some maid and three brats. I am doing him a favor."

"Why?" Regina looked at the man confused. "Why would you do this to your own brother? We are happy."

"Oh, no, no. He only _thinks _that he is happy. He'll see someday; growing old, loving someone, it never works. And children, they ruin all of it. He will learn." They finally came to a ship at the docks. Eli forcefully pushed Blake up the ramp to the deck and then wickedly pulled Willy away from Regina and shoved him up right after.

Eli grabbed Regina roughly by the arm and led her up the ramp, keeping her by his side the entire time. As they reached the top, she stared out at Pirate's Cove. She knew that leaving this place would put them all in danger, as if she wasn't in enough of it with a pistol poking into her back.

As Eli shoved her towards the stern of the ship, Regina noticed something in the distance. She watched him running towards them. A hopeful smile appeared on her face as his appearance became clearer. It _was _him. The little boy in Regina's arms looked up and whispered in her ear, "It's Daddy. He's going to save us."

As she nodded and pressed her cheek to the little boy's head, Regina suddenly felt the cold metal of the pistol pressed against her temple. She listened to the man whisper to her, "Put the boy down." She did as he commanded, though Tucker refused to let go of her waist once she put him down.

The pirate quickly and harshly grabbed the boy and pulled him away from her. Regina reacted suddenly, "Don't hurt him!" She yelled. She wanted to take a step closer. "Please." The woman seemed so weak and helpless as she stared upon the frightened little boy, tears streaming down his red cheeks.

All the man did was laugh as he held a grip on the child with one hand and the gun pointed towards the woman in the other. With his guard not up, Eli did not see the eleven-year-old boy behind him. Blake, with such anger suddenly jumped onto the man's back and wrapped his arms around his neck, causing him to let go of Tucker and suddenly shoot the gun. Regina luckily ducked out of the way when she noticed Blake coming from behind. She quickly grabbed the arm holding the pistol and forced his hand to release it.

Eli fought back. He shoved Regina to the side causing her to smack against the railing. He then took a grip on the boy's arms around his neck; the two struggled for a bit until the strong man backed against the mast with all of his might. Blake's whole body slammed hard against it. All went black as he fell to the ground.

The pirate stared at the boy for a second. As he turned to retrieve his gun, he was suddenly punched in the face and tossed to the ground by the impact. The dizziness wasn't able to clear as his brother tackled him on the ground. The two struggled roughly. "What the bloody hell are you doing, Eli?" Hook yelled.

He was tossed to the side and forcefully hit the wall with brutal impact. As Eli grabbed the pistol off of the ground and stood, he replied, "I'm doing you a favor, brother."

Hook stood up. "What kind of favor is trying to kill my children and the woman I love?"

He smiled pointing the gun towards his brother. "I told you, Kil. Once a pirate, always a pirate. You cannot change that."

"I can and I will, Eli. Even if killing you is the price I have to pay for it."

Hook's brother laughed at him. "You can't escape Neverland even if you do kill me. Though it looks like I'll be killing you sooner, brother."

"Actually, mate. I can."

Eli stared at him confused. "You found a way?"

Hook looked over to Regina who was cradling Blake in her arms and had the other two boys close beside her. "I did." He smiled to her hopefully.

"Well it's a shame that you'll never have the chance to use it." Eli pulled the trigger and watched his brother fall over the edge of the ship. Eli listened to Regina scream Hook's name as he shot him dead. But he gave her no chance to move as he pointed the gun towards the rest of her family. He watched tears run down her face, her mouth agape with shock and the pain of watching her loved one die yet again. There was nothing she could do; she held her boys closely as they sobbed in her arms. They were now trapped, with no hope of being saved.

0-0-0

Regina watched as the man tossed the unconscious boy down on the bunk. She quickly reacted, "Be careful! Are you trying to kill him?" She pushed by him, sat on the edge of the bunk beside Blake and tucked a pillow underneath his head.

Eli laughed as he pulled Regina away from where she sat. "Now what kind of father would I be if I let my own son die before I could return him to the Lost Ones?" Regina stared at the man in awe. "That's right, love."

With pure anger and hate for this man, Regina responded, "You may have given him life, but he is not your son. Killian was a better father to this boy than you'd ever be."

"And look where that got him. Killed trying to protect his _precious_ family."

"He died because you shot him, you bastard." She said viciously.

"No! He died because of you. Because he loved you." The man yelled as he pointed the gun towards her. "But I warned him. I tried so hard to warn him, love. Once you choose a pirate's life, you can't go back and you can't escape. You live a pirate and you die a pirate. Granted, he died as probably the worst pirate I've seen…" The man laughed before taking a hold of Regina's arm. He began to pull her out of the cabin room where the boys stayed. "Come on, sweetheart. You get to stay with me."

"No!" She yelled out as she struggled back. She managed to release her arm, but the man turned instantly, keeping the gun pointed towards her. "You just took their father from them. I am not letting you take me away from them too."

"Too bad you don't have a choice, milady." Eli replied as he grabbed her arm again and pulled her along.

As he yanked her out the door, Regina watched Tucker jumped out of the bunk and scream, "Mommy!" The wicked pirate slammed the door shut and locked it tight before the child could reach them. She struggled in his grip as she listened to her little boy pounding on the door, screaming and crying for his mother.

She tried to go towards the door. "I'm here, baby!" She called out.

But she was soon yanked back and brought into a tight chokehold by the pirate. His arm wrapped around her neck as his gun pressed to her temple. He disturbingly put his face to her head, smelling her hair and breathing hotly down her neck. It made her shiver as he whispered, almost hissing, in her ear, "Quite a feisty one. Aren't we, love?"

She tried to get away. "Let go of me, you disgusting-"

"Oh no, no, no. Love, you are going to have to get used to me because, when those boys are finally returned to the Lost Ones, it'll just be me and you." He spun the woman around in his arms and pulled her waist closely to his body. She placed her hands to his chest and tried her hardest to push away from him, but he held tightly. His left hand gently came towards her face and brushed back a strand of hair. He whispered to her, inches away from her face, "You know, I am quite the passionate lover."

Regina finally pushed him back with all of her might. "Over my dead body!" She replied to him angrily.

Insulted by the denial, Eli grabbed her again and tossed her into his bed cabin. "My pleasure, love." He laughed as she fell to the floor. Before she could get up and fight back, he slammed the door and locked it as he did with the children.

Regina remained on the floor just staring. She stared at the door and realized that she was a prisoner once again. Just as before, everything she loved was ripped from her in an instant: Killian dead, their children about to be sold and returned to the Lost Ones where they would certainly meet their deaths for escaping, and she was now a prisoner to a man that she despised for taking it all from her in the first place. She had tried to run, but again they were caught and forced to pay the price. History was but repeating itself. Regina closed her eyes as she thought of him again. Tears began to leak from her eyes. She wanted him there with her, holding her closely and telling her that all would be okay.

The last vision of him before he was gone continued to play in her head. He smiled towards her that genuine, hopeful smile that he always had. He looked into her eyes with his light blue orbs. They seemed to be reflecting everything he had been feeling in that moment. All she saw was him; his care and love for them. There was no fear or sadness in his eyes when he looked at her with that smile. He loved her; she was all he cared about. But now he was gone.

0-0-0

"Hey! There's a man in the water!" An old crewman yelled out by the docks.

Curly walked up beside the man and glanced down in the water. His eyes opened wide with shock as he replied, "That ain't just some man. That's Jones. Get him out of there, now!" He commanded them.

They hauled the man up the docks by fishing net. After untangling him, old Curly approached the body and stared at him. One of the young crewmen knelt beside the young pirate captain. "He's still alive."

It didn't take the young sailor long to bring Hook back out of unconsciousness. He gasped for breath, his first word being, "Regina!" As he sat up, he felt the sharp pain in his shoulder where the bullet from the pistol merely grazed him.

"Why don't we get you patched up there, Capt'n." Curly pointed to the man's arms.

Standing up and holding his arm, Hook replied, "I think I'll be fine, mate. Thank you. But…" He smirked at the older man. "I could use a ship."

0-0-0

Regina listened to the rattling of her door. She jumped up from where she sat upon the bed as it swung open. In ran her boys both happy to see her but nervous of what might happen soon.

"Boys!" She said with relief as Willy and Tucker ran into her embrace. She noticed Blake shut the door and walk up as she hugged the other two. She looked up at him. "How did you get in here?"

Willy smiled, "Blake can unlock anything!"

"How do you think we escaped the Lost Ones before?" Blake mustered a smile, but Regina could see how lost he was just from the look in his eyes. Before she could even stand up fully, the boy crashed into her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He began to cry softly as she put one arm to his back and the other to his head. "I'm so sorry." He cried. "This is all my fault."

Regina kissed the boy's head and whispered, "None of this is your fault, sweetheart."

"Yes it is! It's my fault that we are here, that our father is dead, that we are being sold back to the Lost Ones!" He looked up at her with tear-stained, red cheeks. "Because I didn't warn you. I didn't tell you when you came down even though I knew."

"Blake, look at me." Regina cupped his cheeks and lifted his head so their eyes met. "This is not your fault. You couldn't have told me even if you wanted to. He had a gun pointed at you. And you tried to fight back; you tried to save us." She smiled to him. "I don't want you to feel guilty. This is all _his_ doing. Not yours."

Blake hugged Regina tightly. "I love you."

Regina kissed the boy's head again, "I love you too."

The boy whispered even quieter, "I miss him."

She shut her eyes, the image of the Captain's face instantly appearing to her. "Me too, sweetheart."

Suddenly, after a moment of complete silence, the door burst open. "Sorry to interrupt this family moment," Eli stepped inside with a wicked grin, "but we have company."

Regina glanced passed the pirate at the dark teenage boy standing behind him. The boy had a grin on his face as well and hood over his head. Night had fallen and the Lost Ones had finally arrived to take the boys away from her.

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**Hope none of you thought that I actually killed off Hook! Haha. Please review and tell me what you think!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: Thank you for all of the reviews! I love hearing feedback from you all, so keep them coming! Please enjoy chapter 13.**

* * *

She held her youngest in her arm, as she always did. But even the four-year-old could tell by the way she held him so tight, never wanting to let him go, that it was only a matter of time. All she could do was hold those three boys closely for those last few minutes, before she lost them for good.

Opening her eyes, allowing a tear to fall down her cheek, Regina looked over to her right. Killian's brother stood a distance away, conversing with the leader of the group that had come to take her children from her. She watched them with so much anger. She hated this, this feeling of so much vulnerability, of not being able to do anything about this. If she had had her magic in that moment, she wouldn't have even hesitated destroying that man, those Lost Ones and even Peter Pan himself if it meant that her sons could be safe; if it meant that her lover could still be alive. But she was powerless in Neverland, and her family was being torn apart because of it.

Her dark, sorrowful eyes gazed upon the little brown sac as it dropped from the young boy's hand into the man's with a jingling sound. He tossed it up and down a few times in his hand, weighing his reward and making sure that he had not been duped in any way. She listened to the monotonous noise as it bounced in his hand; it was the sound of her world falling apart once again, of those few short months of happiness being tossed away in a heartbeat, of those boys' freedom being taken for a second time.

She didn't want to let them go. But as she saw the boy and the man approaching her, as she watched him retrieve his gun to point it at her head yet again, she knew that she had no choice. She had to say goodbye. Tears streamed down her face, as she placed the youngest on the ground for only a second in order to hold the others. She pulled Willy into her embrace tightly, cupping his head gently. She listened to the boy's light sobs as she kissed his forehead. She then looked to her oldest and held him in the same embrace.

Cupping his cheeks, Regina whispered to the boy, "You keep your brothers safe. I promise you that I will find a way to get you boys back. I won't lose you forever." She kissed the boy's forehead, light cries escaping her breath as she place her lips to his head. She then scooped up the youngest in her arms. She could help but give a little warm smile as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the tears falling down her cheek. "I love you, baby."

"I love you, Mommy." The little boy whispered. So unaware, so naïve, he wiped the tears from Regina's cheeks, "Don't cry."

But more and more tears fell from the woman's eyes as she rested her cheek on the little boy's dark brown hair and watched as the leader and the man stood and waited.

"Let's go." The dark, blonde boy said. His sharp eyes peered into Blake's, making it known that their punishment for escaping would be brutal.

But Regina only hugged Tucker tighter and then pulled Blake and Willy as close as she possibly could. "No." She said forcefully. Regina listened to the man's gun click as he lifted it aiming directly at her. "Please, they're all I have. They're my _children_! Please don't take them from me." She felt that, without her magic, all she could do was beg. She couldn't bear loosing them. They were all she had left to love; she couldn't go back to having that cold, empty heart again. "I can pay you!" She looked at the Lost Boy desperately. "The realm I come from. I am the Queen. I can give you anything you desire! Anything!" She kept her grip on her boys just as the leader's expression went unchanged. "I love them."

"My only desire is Peter Pan's desire. He only wishes for the boys, and the boys he shall have." The leader signaled to the others with a swift motion and said no more.

Regina held them tighter as the Lost Ones approached her and the boys emotionless; they were like brainwashed monsters, only obeying to their leader. She struggled as they grabbed at Blake and Willy first, pulling at their arms and shoulders and forcing her to let them go. She watched them yell and scream as the older boys dragged them away to the small boat prepared for them.

Blake's screamed towards the man who had sold him away for but the second time, "I hate you! I hate you! You were never my father! Never! _He_ was always my real father. You're nothing but a monster!" The wicked man only laughed, tossing the small pouch of coins in his hand.

Willy's light eyes cried so hard as he was torn away from Regina's grip. He hollered for his mother, louder than he had ever yelled in his life.

One Lost One returned for the third boy clutching his arms around her neck tightly. She cupped his little head buried into her neck as he whispered repeatedly, "No, no, no. I don't wanna lose another mommy. Mommy, please."

But there was nowhere she could run; they backed her into a corner of the ship. Regina felt him slip an arm in between them. She sobbed harder and harder as she felt her little boy being pulled out of her arms. "Baby, I love you. I give you my word, just like Daddy. I will never leave you alone. I'm going to get you back." But the distressed little boy heard nothing else while he screamed only her name as they carried him away.

She watched them disappear over the side of the boat, only her sons' screaming and crying voices remained. Her knees instantly gave way to the distress and sorrow that she felt. She fell to the ground, weeping into the palms of her hands. She couldn't breath; she thought her heart was truly going to break within her chest. Her children's echoing yells became more distant as they sailed away back to the island. She could do nothing; she was alone again, lost in a sea of so many emotions. But of course even her sorrows couldn't last.

She felt Eli pull her to her feet. "Well I guess it's just you and me now." He pulled her closely into his body with his strong arm. She tried to get out of his grip, squirming like a small mouse about to be devoured by a large cat. He dragged her down to his cabin, gun pointed at her the entire time. She was now his eternal prisoner; she could never escape.

0-0-0

Blake stared at the shoreline, the roaring fire of the Lost One's camp in sight and only a few feet away. He gazed into the bright flames with a blank, hopeless stare. The sound's of his brothers' crying droned out; all was silent in the boy's head. His miserable thoughts were the only things to keep him company. He was lost; they had almost made it out, almost became free. He was going to have the chance to have a real family, a real mother and a real father. But there was nothing left.

He knew where they were going to be taken; he knew that they would be separated. Blake held his brothers' hands tightly as they came to the prisons. They listened to the cries of the other lost boys locked in their cages, wishing they could just go home. They forcefully separated the three boys. Tucker cried and Willy screamed, but Blake remained silent with his hate and anger and sadness. He had no doubt that they would kill him. What would it matter anyhow? He was already dead.

He turned around and watched them lock him inside. His stare was soulless; his hope was gone. Blake sat in the center of his cage, legs pulled to his chest and his chin resting on his knees. He closed his dark eyes and waited, forcing himself to remember the good memories of his family. A small sliver of faith remained in that boy's heart, though in the moment he would never have known. The memories, though, began to turn into a wish. All he wanted was his family back. He wanted his father to be alive, his mother to hold him closely, to hear his brothers laugh again.

He stared into the sky through the rusty metal bars. Stars shined down upon him and gleamed into his eyes. He found his star, his special wishing star and kept his gaze upon it for the longest time. It was the star he had wished upon before they had escaped; it was the one he wished upon every night in the jungle hoping that they would never be caught; it was the one he wished upon in that moment. Blake closed his eyes tight, allowing a small tear to fall from the corner and run down his cheek. He wished with all of his might that his mother _would_ find them, that they still had a chance.

0-0-0

He pressed his body up against hers and held his firm grip around her small waist. She tried to fight him off, digging her nails into the skin of his arms and squirming around to get away from him. But he held the power in his hand; a single click of his gun forced her to stop moving. She was afraid of him, but she tried so hard not to show him. She put on her air of confidence and stubbornness; she placed on her mask of the Queen she had once been.

She felt the cold metal of the pistol brush down her arm as the pirate buried his face into her smooth, soft dark hair. Regina moved her head as chills ran down her spine. "Let go of me, you disgusting excuse for a man." She quickly pulled away and turned to face him.

"Uh, uh, uh." The man wagged his gun at her before pointing it directly at her head. "I don't think you want to do that, love." He stepped forward, making her fall back onto the bed.

"Don't you dare touch me." She spat.

Shaking his head and stepping closer, he replied, "I don't think you are in the position to be telling me what to do right now."

"What are you going to do? Kill me?" She stared at him with dark eyes, still red from crying.

Eli's eyes widened with anger at the woman's remark. He pushed her down upon the bed and climbed on top of her, the gun aimed directly at her temple. "This is no game, love. And even if it was, I'd be winning." A smirk appeared on his face as he looked into her eyes to spot her true fear of him. "Now," He said wickedly, "keep your mouth shut and stay still." With that, Regina grabbed the man's arm and kicked in between his legs. He wasn't going to win that easily.

0-0-0

Getting onto the ship was surprisingly easy for Hook. It made him wonder if his brother was waiting for him, or if he truly believed that he was dead. He looked around in the darkness of the deck, careful to take quiet steps. But he was eager to get his family back.

Taking each step lightly as he made his way below deck, some sounds became clearer. There was struggling in one of the cabins. Before Hook had another second to make clear of the persons within the struggle, the sound of the gun shot off. He felt his stomach drop instantly. "Regina!" He yelled as he burst through the door to the Captain's cabin. "Regina!"

He saw her standing there, his brother lying dead on the floor. She dropped the gun in shock. Their eyes met, and for a moment, Regina believed that she was the one who was dead. She walked up to him. "Killian?" She asked breathlessly, the fear of what had just happened still causing her to shake. Hook stepped closer to her with a thankful smile and brought his arms around to embrace her. She placed her hands to his chest and then brought them to each side of his face. Tears began to well in her eyes. "It really is you." She whispered with a smile before leaning in to kiss him passionately. Hook felt her soft crying breaths upon his lips as they kissed. She was confident that he was dead but now grateful that he truly was not. Opening her eyes and staring into his, she whispered joyfully, "I thought I'd lost you."

"It's alright, Regina. I'm right here." He said as she rested her head upon his chest.

Both of their eyes moved towards the dead man on the floor. Regina shut her eyes and listened to her lover's heart beating. "I'm sorry, Killian. I know he was your brother. I just-"

"No need to be." He stopped her. "The moment that he threatened to hurt my family, he became nothing but an enemy. He is not my family, love. You are." He kissed her head sweetly and laid his cheek upon her head.

Regina lifted her head from his chest and looked at him nervously. "Killian, the boys are gone. Your brother returned them to the Lost Ones. I couldn't stop them." Regina could feel the urge to cry again, but every possible tear had already fallen from her sad eyes. "We need to get them back."

"Regina, that is almost impossible. I'm not even sure how the boys were capable of escaping the first time. Pan will know if we even set foot on that island."

"I am not leaving our children. There has to be a way; there is always a way!" She said with determination.

A familiar cackle from behind forced the woman to turn around. There the man stood with his beady eyes and his golden skin. Regina stared wide-eyed while Hook pulled her close. He smirked at the distressed couple, "I believe I can help with your little problem, dearie."

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**Mwah! Love cliff hangers! Review and give me your feedback, comments, criticisms and questions. I'll answer anything you throw at me.**

**What do you think is going to happen next?**


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: Hey Oncers! Thank you so so much for the reviews. I love them and they keep me motivated! Keep them coming! Here is Chapter 14. Enjoy!**

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He felt the urge to pull her closer into him and wrap his arms tighter around her at the sight of the monster. His heart raced at the thought that this just might be the end; that the crocodile would take her away from him only just after they had reunited. He glared at him standing before them with that smug grin on his face. "I will not let you take her from me, you bloody crocodile!" He said viciously.

The man replied with a gesture of the hands as he turned to waltz around the small cabin casually. "I'm afraid you have no choice in that matter, Captain. However," the imp turned to face them with his finger in the air and his wicked smirk, "I can make it more beneficial for you."

"I know exactly what you're dealing in, crocodile, and I will have none of it. You are not taking her." Hook glared into Rumple's golden eyes with anger.

"Not even if it will save your precious little boys?" His eyes looked upon Regina's. He knew that this was her weakness, the idea that her sons would be safe, would live.

He watched her eyes connect with his. They were hopeful. "You mean," she pushed away from Hook, though he struggled to keep her in his embrace, and stepped towards Rumple, "if I go with you and cast your curse as you wish, you will save my boys? They will be safe?"

"Regina," Hook took a hold of her hand, pulled her back and looked at her with confusion. "What are you doing? You can't go with him. You don't what this curse shall entail. It's a fool's deal."

"Killian," Regina placed her hands to his chest, feeling his heart beating nervously. "These are my children, _our_ children. And this is the only way we can get them back." She stared into his eyes with so much confidence of what she was about to choose.

"At your expense, Regina! I can't allow you to do this. I can't lose you."

She brought her hands to his cheeks and smiled reassuringly, "And I can't lose those boys. This is our family." She bowed and shook her head as she continued, "I couldn't protect them; it is my fault that they were taken back there. But I can now; this is my chance to keep them safe, to be their mother and protect them." She looked at him, knowing that all he wished was to stop her from making this deal. She sighed, "I have spent so much time allowing others to create my life for me, a life that I never wanted. It's my life, Killian. I'm the one who chooses my fate. I know that you only want to protect me, but… this is my choice."

Regina watched tears fall from the pirate's eyes. He knew that he couldn't persuade her otherwise; she was a stubborn woman. But he couldn't help but continue to fight. "How long?" He asked her. He saw her confusion as she tilted her head to the side. "How long must we be apart if you do this?"

Regina sighed again, her eyes also welling with tears at the thought. "Twenty-eight years." She said quietly with a small whimper.

"Regina, that's a lifetime! The boys can't be without you for that long. I can't be without you for that long."

The woman leaned in to kiss is lips. She could taste the salt from his tears on the tip of her tongue. As they parted, she whispered, "It'll only feel like passing moments. I promise you."

"Not a day will go by that I'm not thinking about you, about seeing you again."

She smiled up at him. "But you have to stay strong for our boys. Take care of them." Regina leaned into his warm body and rested her head lightly upon his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her. "I know you'll find me again. I have faith."

"I give you my word." He whispered deeply, choking back more tears as she backed out of his embrace and stepped towards the crocodile.

Regina looked at Rumple with complete seriousness in her dark eyes. "I have conditions before I agree to anything." She warned firmly.

"Well go ahead and name them, dearie. We haven't all day."

"Firstly, you will return our sons to us safely. Secondly, you must assure me that neither them nor Killian will be harmed or hunted by anyone or anything, especially the Lost Ones, Peter Pan, and you."

"My, my-" He was quickly interrupted.

"I'm not finished." She continued. "Thirdly, you will allow me to say goodbye to them before returning to our land."

"I admire a woman who knows what she wants and isn't afraid to demand it." He smiled tapping his fingers together wickedly. "You have yourself a deal, dearie." Regina nodded her head to the imp, and then turned to look back at her nervous lover. He didn't want her to go, but the deal was struck. All he could do was prepare himself for the boys' arrival, for being the only parent they would have for that time.

The couple watched as the magical man disappeared before them. His voice echoing, _I shall have my end of the deal in twenty-four hours._ Twenty-four hours and they would part ways for another twenty-eight years. They stared into each other's scared but loving eyes and allowed passion to overcome their kisses. They wouldn't waste their finale hours together.

0-0-0

Hands bound, the boys were led up the stairs of the platform. The three of them stood upon the trap doors that would drop them instantly. Blake stood in the middle with each brother on one side of him. He listened to their soft crying as one of the Lost Ones placed and tightened the ropes round their necks.

Blake kept his stare upon the one monster responsible for this, Peter Pan. He glared at his pleased smirk and his soulless black eyes as the Lost One tightened his noose. This was merely a show for Pan, his favorite kind at that. This form of death provided the torture for those who disobeyed or escaped. Unlike men, boys were lighter in weight. When they'd drop, they would struggle as they hung; it was their punishment.

He stared furiously at his murderer; his eyes wouldn't move anywhere else. But Blake could still hear the sounds of his brothers' fear. It made him close his eyes and just wish one last time. His mind brought back thoughts of his family and his parents; he wished that there was still a chance that they could be together again, that they could be happy.

He heard the clomping sounds of the Lost One walking to the other side of the platform where he would pull the lever and the trap doors would drop. This was the end, but something forced him to keep wishing. "Please." He whispered quietly with his last breath as the door opened. But he felt no drop. Instead, he felt a cold, misty and smoky air surround him; he felt the ground return to him but kept his eyes shut. Was he dead?

Blake listened to Tucker yell out, "Mommy!" He could hear his and Willy's little feet running.

He also heard her voice. "My boys." She sounded so happy and thankful. Was it possible that she had found a way to save them? That maybe they were alive?

"Son." He heard a voice call him. He knew that voice. But could it really be him?

Blake allowed himself to open his eyes slowly, the vision becoming clear. It _was_ him. "Father!" He yelled out joyfully running to him and crashing into his torso with his arms wrapped around him. Blissful tears overcame him, he clenched the leather of his father's coat and listened to the sound of his heartbeat in his chest. "You're alive." He whispered with a smile.

Killian could help but laugh as he wrapped his arms around his son. He placed his chin to the boy's head and said to him, "You didn't think a silly old pistol was going to keep me from finding you, did you?"

The dark-haired boy lifted his head to look into his father's eyes and smiled, "Never."

"Sorry to interrupt this lovely family moment," Rumplestiltskin chimed in, "but I've kept my side of the bargain. Now it's your turn, dearie. Say your goodbyes."

"Goodbyes?" Blake looked at his father who turned his head and glanced at Regina. "Wait, but we just-"

"It was the only way I could get you boys back." Regina said standing up from the floor. The younger boys kept a hold of her legs. "I have to go for a while."

Letting go of his father and stepping towards her, Blake's happiness quickly disappeared. "But what about our family? What's the point of getting us back if you're just going to leave?"

Regina leaned forward to meet his dark eyes. She caressed his soft cheek and smiled at him. "Because I know you'll be safe." Regina knelt back down to say goodbye to her two younger boys.

"We don't want you to go." Willy said tearfully.

She looked into their sad eyes but forced herself to stay strong. She didn't want to cry. "It'll feel like I'm only gone for a second."

"You promise?" Tucker asked.

"I promise." She smiled. "And you must promise to be good for your father." Both little ones nodded before wrapping their arms around her. "I'm going to be thinking of you the entire time."

"Only for a second, Mommy." Tucker whispered.

"That's right." She slowly let them go and kissed their heads. "I love you."

Blake barely allowed her to stand before stepping forward to hug her tightly. He whispered, "But we only just got back." He didn't want to let her go. He shut his eye and rested his head on her chest.

"Sweetheart, look at me." She placed one hand to his shoulder and her other to his chin. "I won't be gone forever."

"Give me your word." He said.

"I do." She said before kissing the boy's head and telling him that she loved him. A hand touched her shoulder suddenly, making her look to her side, at the man she loved so dearly.

"And I give you my word. We will find you again and be a family." He said softly.

"Because you'll never leave me to be alone." She felt the man wrap his arms around her and pull her into a light kiss. Her hands cupped his face, her thumbs softly caressing the stubble on his jawline. She kissed him again, choking back her tears and staying strong for the both of them. "I love you so much."

"I know." He whispered, their lips only centimeters away. He light touched her lips again.

"I don't want to say goodbye." Her eyes stared into his.

"It isn't goodbye, love. It is _until we meet again_." He smiled.

She kissed him one last time, knowing that she wouldn't feel his lips for another twenty-eight years. "Until we meet again." She whispered as she backed away. She sighed, straightened up and coldly stared at her former villainous teacher. She felt that if she looked back at them, she would surely break down. She felt her stomach churn as she stood before the golden-skinned man. "Let's go."

"Wonderful." The man cackled as he surrounded them in a purple haze and brought them to the portal in which he entered Neverland.

Regina stared at the hidden door. "The hat?" She asked. "But how are we supposed to return if only you came through?"

"Dearie, I know the rules of the hat. I am not the only one who came through this last time around." He glanced at her confused expression.

"Who else came through?"

"Some pirate I made a deal with. Wanted to find his son or something, I believe. But the poor sucker is dead now." He chuckled.

"Wait a minute." She stopped in her tracks directly in front of the portal. "You are reason Killian's brother was here when we arrived at Pirates' Cove? You planned this from the start. Didn't you? You knew that he would return the boys to the Lost Ones. You knew I would do anything to get them back. You knew that all of this would unfold so that I would go with you willingly."

Staring at her with his smug grin, he replied, "Dearie, I have no idea what you are implying. Now, let us go cast that curse you promised me." He put his hand to the woman's back and pushed her forward as they stepped through the portal together, returning to their land.

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**Well, I know most of you didn't want Regina to make the deal, but what else could she do? She's do anything to protect her children! And why else would I have brought Rumple in the mix? **

**Please review! Tell me what you think. Give comments, questions, anything. I love to hear your thoughts!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: Sorry it's been a while. Here is chapter 15 and thanks for being so patient. **

**Before you read, there is some stuff you need to know:**

**1) Regina's life in Storybrooke is obviously completely different because she didn't cast the curse willingly, she was forced to. So in fact, there is a chance that she might have different feelings about the curse breaking. **

**2) Regina never adopts Henry. She has three sons and loves them dearly. Her goal is to find them and Hook. So she never adopted a son. That would kind of be like replacing them, which she would never do.**

**3) Because she never adopted Henry, obviously he is not Henry anymore. I wrote it in a way that Emma ended up keeping him and obviously his name isn't Henry though he does have the same sort of personality and of course is the reason why Emma comes to Storybrooke. Emma wouldn't have any reason to name him Henry though because that was something special to Regina. So, his name is Jack (cause idk I wanted it to be). However, he has the book and is still the one trying to get Emma to believe she is the savior. I assumed that, no matter where they lived, there were "forces" *cough cough August* who got the book to him and provoked him in believing that it was real.**

**Okay, that's all. Enjoy!**

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**Storybrooke 1983**

Her eyes shot open, the pitch-black pupils shrinking as the light shined in her eyes instantly. She blinked a few times before jolting up in the bed and looking around a room that she had never been in before. She stared down at the white sheets and covers over her and the grey silk pajamas she suddenly wore. Had she truly done it? This curse that Rumple so anxiously wanted?

Regina felt a strange chill at the back of her neck. As she placed a hand to it, she felt her hair cut short. Combing both hands through it, she felt it again; it was a strange feeling she'd have to get used to. As she pushed back the covers, she gazed over to her empty bedside. Her hand slowly caressed the pillow beside her and moved down the sheets. She missed having him there beside her when she slept. Regina remembered this loneliness from when she had been Queen, before Killian and the boys; she remembered how it pushed her towards her anger.

Now, as she turned her head to the strange sounds coming from the streets, she felt the sadness of being alone when she awoke. As she stood from the bed to inspect the window, she noticed the town clock tower. 8:15, that's what it would always be in this dreary life. She stared down at the people whom she could recognize. She noticed the cricket; he was human now, walking a dog with a black umbrella in hand. She noticed the imp who had forced her to do all of this, who had tricked her into making that deal into casting this curse for some reason that he wished.

She glared at him with so much anger and hatred. She hated all of them in their clueless, melancholy lives. They may have been cursed, yes, but it was she who had to suffer most of all. At least they forgot each day. Living in the loop could be bearable because they forgot. But Regina… Regina never forgot. She knew every detail, she knew her past, and she knew her pain and her loss because of this curse. She would have to suffer the same dreary day over and over again for years, and she would remember every moment of it. She would remember the fact that he was not there with her and she would remember that she couldn't see her little boys for years, maybe never if this savior didn't come.

But, nevertheless, she had to live this life she was given for however long she was given it. Glancing over at her perfectly supplied closet filled with all sorts of gray, blue, black and dark red modern-world things, she sighed. This was only the beginning.

**Neverland 1983**

The pirate lied in his bed alone, brushing his hand over the pillow where she used to lie. He missed her so much that he couldn't bear it. Day by day, he remained strong for his sons and night by night, he allowed himself to cry alone. He hated himself for not being able to keep her safe, to keep their family together, to keep his word that he would never leave her to be alone.

There were so few answers for him. He didn't know where she was, how he could find her, when he could find her. He'd tell his boys that it was only a matter a time, but truthfully, he wasn't sure if the time would ever come. He had heard other men's whispers. The Enchanted Forest had been ravaged by a curse cast by the Evil Queen. It had taken several other lands, but Neverland had gone untouched. No one knew where the people had gone or what the curse had done to the lands. Hook's hopes seemed crushed to think that he had no idea where she was or how to find her.

Shutting his eyes and trying to finally fall asleep, Hook heard the sound of the bedroom door squeak open only slightly. It made him shoot up in the bed nervously and look towards the door. However, his tenseness quickly faded as he spotted the little hands and green eyes of his youngest boy. "Daddy?" He said with his shy squeaky voice.

"What is it, my boy?" Hook pulled the covers off, stood from the bed and walked over to his son. "Did you have another nightmare?" He asked kneeling in front of his son and placing his hand on his shoulder. "Son, I promise you that you are safe here. You are never going back to them. I won't allow it. Come here." Hook carefully picked up the four year old and held him tightly in his arms.

Out of all of them, Tucker was having the most nightmares of the Lost Ones and Eli and Peter Pan. Sometimes it happened every night and other times the boys would be fine. They started to become less and less for the older ones, but Tucker was still struggling with them. It was difficult because the boy was always closer to Regina.

Hook set the boy down gently on what used to be Regina's side of the bed. As he walked back to his side, he watched the little boy bury his face into the pillow; it still smelled like her. It didn't take long after Hook lied down for the young boy to cuddle up beside him. Tucker turned around so that his back face Hook's chest and Hook's chin rested upon the boy's head. He then pulled his father's hand over so that he'd hug him closely from behind just as Regina used to hold him as they slept. Hook felt a bit shocked at first, but soon welcomed it as he placed a kissed to the top of the boy's head.

As Hook pulled his arm away only for a second to pull the covers back over them and tuck his son in warmly, the little boy whispered, "I miss Mommy." Hook then placed his arm back around him and sighed.

He felt Tucker's tiny hand slip into the palm of his as he whispered back, "I miss her too, son. More than anything." The two then shut their eyes and fell to sleep.

**Storybrooke 2010**

"Who is she? This Emma Swan?" Regina asked the imp who had so rudely intruded upon her property to torment her.

"Oh I think you know exactly who she is, dearie." He smirked.

Regina was so curious to know. She had felt it the day that woman had come to town with her ten-year-old son. Time _was_ moving again, things were changing. Was it possible the curse was breaking?

She continued to glare at him for the longest time in complete silence. She was angry all of the time; the curse and dreary days had gotten to her, had hardened her heart completely. After no more than five years of the curse, she became hopeless and gave up on the idea that she'd ever be reunited with her family. After twenty-eight years? Well, she practically forgot what hope and love had felt like. She was bitter and cold; she was in fact her old self.

"I assume you'd want me to do something about this visitor to our town, Gold?" She asked him with a deep, snide voice.

Gold shook his head, "Oh no, no, Madame Mayor. But I suggest _you_ might want to. No telling what will happen to you when the town _wakes up_ and finally realized the hell _you've_ put them through for so long."

Regina looked at him with shock, "No, I never wanted any of this! It was you. You forced me to cast this curse, damn it!"

"Do you truly believe that they will listen to a word you say, dearie? That they will trust the word of the Evil Queen?"

"But I am not evil!" Regina was becoming more than furious. He had set all of this up. She would cast the curse, she would take the blame when it broke, and she would in turn never find her family. Then he would be free to do as he had originally planned.

"Good luck trying to convince the town of that, dearie." The man said as he turned to walk away from her.

"No, wait!" Regina desperately ran in front of him to block him. "Help me get rid of her then."

"Now why would I help you?"

"I'll make a deal with you. Anything. I can't have them waking up and coming after me. I'll never be able to find Killian and the boys if they do."

The man laughed at her desperation. "Dearie, dearie, dearie. You would never find them if the curse continued. Time would stop again and there would be no magic for them to come here. You'd simply be trapped here as you have been for the passed twenty-eight years. Besides, you have nothing I desire."

"Then what the hell am I supposed to do? Just wait for the town to come and kill me?"

"That… or you could be a bit more confident in yourself and perhaps find a way to hide when this curse breaks. Maybe find a way to disappear." He whispered before finally leaving her.

0-0-0

Sitting at Granny's at her usual table with the Daily Mirror, a cup of coffee and two pieces of toast, Regina was simply going through her routine as she always had. In the back of her mind she was trying to think of what to do about the curse starting to break. It wasn't as if it was an extremely bad thing with the whole exception of the town coming after her for revenge. But there still was a slight chance that they would just be angry, maybe banish her or something without the whole _killing_ thing. And if the curse did break, she would have more of a chance to find her lover and her children. She was surprisingly a little more hopeful than before.

Suddenly, Regina heard a voice from behind the newspaper she was reading. "You know, you don't look evil to me."

She folded the top of the paper down to look at the person sitting across from her. She stared at him, a little boy with dark brown hair and dark eyes. He was smiling at her too. "Excuse me?" She asked confused.

"You don't look evil to me. Maybe a little angry, but not really evil." He tilted his head to the right and stared at her.

"Thank you, I suppose. I have to say, I've never had anyone say that to me before." Regina let out a small smirk, hoping that it would provoke the boy to leave as she lifted the paper again. But as she peaked over it, she noticed that he still sat their look at her awkwardly. "Where are your parents?"

The boy pointed over at the blonde woman at the counter talking to the waitress. "My mom is right there. My name is Jack."

Regina just gave an uncomfortable smile then answered him, "Nice to meet you." She suddenly watched the boy pull out a large brown book and open it up.

He pointed to a picture in it. "You're Regina, the Evil Queen."

"What?" Regina asked with sudden shock at this little boy.

"That's what my book says. You look like her, but you really don't act like her."

"What on earth are you talking about, dear?"

The boy look up at her with a raised brow, "I think you already know. You're the one who cast the curse, so you never lost your memories. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"I honestly don't. I'm sorry." Regina shook her head and tried to play innocent.

Jack looked at her in disbelief, "You're lying. You see, my mom and I have this super power. We can tell when people are lying to us. And you're lying."

"Alright then, smart guy. What do you want from me?" Regina leaned forward on the table.

The boy leaned forward simultaneously and whispered, "I need you to help my mom believe so that she can save everyone."

"Why would you ask me for help?" Regina looked at him curiously.

"Cause I can tell. You're not evil; you look more like you're sad, which means I think you want the curse to break too. And… you're the only person who knows about it. So I just kind of took a chance."

Regina smiled at him. It was the first time someone had ever believed that she wasn't evil since Killian and the boys. She reached over and took a hold of the boy's hand; he had actually reminded her a lot of her oldest son. He was strong and very brave. "Alright. I'd love to help you."

"Awesome!" The boy was ecstatic. He jumped up from the table and grabbed his book with a widened smile on his face. "I have to go now, but I'll come find you or something." He watched as Regina silently nodded her head.

She watched him as he walked over to his mother and hugged her tightly. Regina missed that. She wanted that feeling of being a mother again, of seeing her sons and holding them closely. This little boy and his mom were her last chance. Regina finally knew what she wanted to do. She would take the risk; she wanted this curse broken; she wanted any possible way to get her family back.

**Neverland 2011**

Sitting in a booth, alone in the bar while his three boys played games and spent time with some other pirates, he watched as the boys smiled. It was good to see them smiling after so long, but it also worried him. He feared that perhaps they'd forgotten about her after so long, just as they had forgotten their birth parents after being in Neverland for so many centuries before.

Hook shook his head at the thought. _They wouldn't forget her. _He watched with a smile as they played dice with the older pirates around a table. It looked as if Blake was winning against them all as he gazed up and gave a bright smile.

"How are you doing with all this, mate?" Hook looked up and notice his old friend Curly, standing there offering him a pint as he sat down on the other side of the booth.

"As good as can be expected. Boys seem to be better. Obviously they still miss her, but the sadness is starting to fade."

"Ain't that a good thing?"

"Of course it is. Just don't want them to start forgetting her." Hook took the mug and stared at it with hopeless eyes.

"Captain, those boys have been here for twenty-eight years. Not a day goes by that they don't come to me and tell about their mother and what they are gonna do when their father finds her again. They won't ever forget her, I can promise you that." The old man lifted his mug and gestured to the pirate before taking a gulp.

"Any word?" Hook looked to him. He had asked Curly to keep track of news throughout the lands for him. Perhaps one day he'd find news that the curse had been broken. Maybe he'd even figure out what land the curse had sent Regina to.

"Actually, got a bit of news this morning. Not sure if it'll help much."

Hook raised his brow, "Anything will help, mate. What'd you hear?"

"There is word that there was an area of the Enchanted Forest untouched by the curse for some reason; no one is sure why. But someone said that time started again. Evidence of that curse breaking, I bet."

"Does anyone know yet where they were sent? What land they had moved to? I need to find it." Hook leaned over the table anxiously.

Curly shook his head sadly. "Sorry, mate. But," He looked at him with wide eyes, "there are people from that land that are trying to find a way back. Apparently a portal dropped them there and they are in search for ways back to where you wish to go."

"Have they yet to succeed?"

"No, they are still wandering the Enchanted Forest for a way to return. Perhaps you could find them and journey to that land with them, mate! Find your love and bring the boys to their mother." Curly said confidently.

Hook looked down, reached his hand in his shirt and pulled out the vile hanging round his neck. He had always kept it close from the moment he received it from that gypsy woman. He planned to use it as soon as that curse was broken to find Regina. He looked at it as he answered the man, "I only have enough for a single portal. I've been saving this to get to her."

"But those people are searching for a way too. If you find them, you will get to her."

"And if they cannot find a way back to their land, the boys and I shall be stuck in the Enchanted Forest with them and with no way back to Regina. We would be trapped."

"But if you stay here and save that, you may never find out where she is. Why not take the chance?"

"I can't risk them never seeing their mother again, mate."

Curly looked at him sternly, "That is exactly what you'd be doing if you stayed here, Capt'n. The only way you'll find your love is if you take the risk and find those people. There is magic in that land and there _has _to be a way for you to get to her from there. It will be difficult, but at least you'll know where you are going." Curly stared over at the young boys playing the game with the loud pirates. "Do it for your boys."

Hook stared over at his smiling sons and then back at the vile in his hand filled with a single drop of mermaid venom and a tear that would create a single portal to bring him anywhere he desired. The Enchanted Forest would be dangerous and there was even a chance he wouldn't be able to find those people. He gave a determined look to Curly, "Who exactly am I looking for? What are their names, mate?"

Curly nodded his head, "Two women from that land. Snow White and Emma Swan are their names."

* * *

**Please comment and review. What do you think about the story and the little twists? I love to read opinions and comments! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note: Hey Oncers. I'm sorry its been so long since I've posted, but this chapter though it is kind of short, took a lot of thought and planning for reasons you will see later on. I hope you enjoy it and please read the note I put at the end of the story because it's kind of important. :) Hope you enjoy! Please review as well!**

* * *

"Dad?" Blake stepped into the room for a mere second to find his father standing by the window. He watched as Hook turned around stuffing something into his pocket so as not to show his son. "Are you almost ready?"

Hook nodded to his eldest son, "Just give me a few more minutes, son. Then I shall be ready to head out."

"We'll be waiting down stairs." Blake smiled. He could tell that something was up with his father. He was always holding that trinket in his hands when he thought no one was looking and he'd hide it away instantly when he noticed someone was. Blake, though he knew nothing about it, assumed that it had something to do with his mother. Perhaps it was something she had given him when they had first met, but he was only speculating; he never knew anything about his parents' past together.

As he watched his son exit the room and close the door behind him, Hook pulled out the golden chain from his pocket once more. On the chain held half of a golden, heart-shaped locket. The pirate was never one for keeping sentimental objects, but this was the one thing he refused to sell or rid of, and not just because it was broken. He always kept it close, even during the times when he didn't understand why he had it; he knew that there was something about it, some reason why he couldn't give it up.

It was because it was his connection to her, the one thing that brought them together, pulled them apart, saved his life and somehow brought them together again. _It led me to her once; perhaps it can do it again._ He thought as he lifted the necklace to his lips, closed his eyes and only thought of her.

Thoughts drifted in his head of when they had met for the first time. She was so strong willed, refused any of his help though she was sure that she'd need it, and she remained completely stubborn with him. He remembered getting to know her, watching her slowly get comfortable with him. He remembered saving her life on more than one occasion. And more than anything, he remembered falling in love with her. He liked remembering their past together; that feeling only brought warmth to his heart.

"I found you once." He whispered quietly to the little locket. "I will find you again." He stared down at the small golden heart and smirked. "Somehow… we're connected." Placing it back into his pocket, the pirate strolled out of the room to meet his sons whom where waiting for him downstairs.

0-0-0

Eyes closed, head bowed and a broken half of a heart shaped locket in the palm of her hand, Regina thought about him as she always did. It was the only piece of him that she had, something that she had always kept with her.

"What's that?" A young and naïve voice startled her from behind.

She quickly flipped her short dark hair back and looked towards the door to her office. "Jack? What are you doing here?"

"Just wanted to say hi. And, you know, see if you were okay."

Regina nodded her head. "Yes, I'm fine. Aren't you supposed to be with David?"

"He's kind of busy with the town and all. So I thought I'd just come see you." The little boy wandered around the Mayor's office, staring at the bobbles and things on the mantels, table and desk until his eyes were brought right back to the small broken chain in her hand. "Is it a locket?"

Regina stared down, opened her palm and smiled. "Well half of one."

"Can I look at it?" Jack asked curiously, looking up at her with an innocent smile. Though hesitant, the woman eventually handed over the chain, giving the boy a look asking him to be careful. He returned the look with a smirk and gentle nod of his head as he stared at it lying there in his hand. He brushed his thumb over the golden heart. Upon it was a small design, which Jack had to squint his eyes in order to see. It was a clock engraved in the gold… 8:15. _So it wasn't just some random time that they were frozen in_. He thought to himself. "Where's the other half?"

Hesitating a moment and bowing her head to look at the floor, she replied. "Killian has it."

"Killian?" Jack looked at her with an intrigued smile.

Regina smiled back. "You may know him better as… Captain Hook?" She watched as the young boy's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Captain Hook and the Evil Queen? That's really cool. I never thought…"

"Thing's you read in story books aren't always what they seem, dear." Regina interrupted him.

"Guess not." Jack looked back down at the necklace. "So… Captain Hook is your true love. And… you said that you have kids too, right? You said that I reminded you of your son once. He's the same age as me."

"Blake." Regina nodded. "Yes. You remind me a lot of him. And I have two younger ones too. William and Tucker."

Jack watched as the memories of her family brought a slight smile to her face but faded quickly at the reminder that they had been separated for so long. Even for an eleven-year-old, the expression in her eyes was clear. She felt hopeless and alone.

"Do you think that they are trying to find you?" He handed the locket back to her and watched her take it from him carefully.

"I can only hope." She glanced back down at it as she held the heart with the tips of her fingers.

Jack nodded, "I bet they'll come back with my mom and Mary Margaret."

"That seems like a pretty hopeful accusation." She looked at the young boy. "What makes you say that?"

Jack shrugged his shoulders and curled his lip. "I don't know… kind of just a feeling I have."

"Is that so?" Regina leaned over her desk slightly and smiled, the locket still clutched in her hand. She watched the boy nod. "Well then I hope you are right."

0-0-0

Stepping aboard the ship, Blake and the other two boys watched as Hook pulled out the small vile he'd been saving for years to get back to Regina. "What is that?" Willy asked naively in his small, squeaky voice.

"This is a special potion made with the single tear of a mermaid and a drop of its venom that will open a portal. It shall bring us where we wish to go."

"Where?" Blake asked, her eyes gazing upon the small vile with wonder.

"A place called the Enchanted Forest, boys. There we can find two women who know where your mother is." Hook smiled as his youngest boy's face suddenly lit up at the mention of his mother. "Now, I need you boys to go below deck to your cabin. I want you to hold on to anything as tight as you can. It's going to get bumpy ahead." He watched as they all nodded their heads understandingly.

Hook looked to his eldest sternly. He watched the boy give a small grin, as he understood his father's message. _Keep your brothers safe_. He could always understand that look. Blake then took the young ones' hands and led them below the deck while Hook finished preparing the ship to set sail.

He stared down at the vile in his hand. This was their last hope of finding her and he was taking a big risk by going back the Enchanted Forest in hoped of finding this Snow White and Emma Swan who came from the land where Regina was sent to. But it was also his only option. He curled his fingers and clutched the vile tightly. Closing his eyes, he thought hard of the place he wished to go, of the people he wished to find there. He kept his focus on finding them and prayed that he'd find her again as he threw the vile far off into the water and watched as a large whirlpool began to create a portal.

Sailing closer and closer to it, he remained focused on his thoughts. A single change could divert his course and destroy his chances of finding Regina for good. The pirate stared at the swirling portal as the ship drew nearer. He needed to find Regina. He began to remember her, meeting her, falling in love with her for the first time. He carefully pulled out the broken locket that they shared with one another. It was the reminder of the adventure that they had had long ago, even before Neverland and before she had been Queen. He stared at it, not realizing that his thoughts and his focus were now drifting.

The more he thought of Regina, the deeper he delved into their memories and their past. Little did the Captain realize that he was also changing course of the portal. As he stared up, he noticed that it began to turn the opposite way. The memories of her and how they first met were now forming a new path, a path to _that _land. It was too late to turn back as he felt the ship being pulled into the current and realized what he had just done.

His eyes shut tight as he griped the wheel and braced himself. The ship fell through instantly. Hook could feel the magic surrounding him; it was familiar. As he felt the ship splash unto the water he fell to the floor hard. He was afraid to open his eyes. Perhaps, he hoped, he had not changed the course. Maybe there was still a chance that he had brought them where they wished.

"Dad?" He heard the sounds of his sons running up the steps from below the deck.

Hook opened his eyes and stared up at the bright blue skies of this land. He still wasn't sure which land it was though.

"Dad? Are you alright?" He noticed Blake standing before him and then looked over to see that the other two were leaning over the rail of the ship at the new world.

"Yes, my boy. Are you?"

"Yes we are fine." He helped his father stand and watched Hook's eyes widen as he looked around. "Did we make it? To the Enchanted Forest?"

Hook walked over to the younger boys and stood beside them gazing out. Forests of green laid everywhere, making the pirate wonder if they made it. He turned around and looked in the other direction. Trying to find some sort of sign that this was the place he wished to be.

"Dad?" Blake repeated, trying to get an answer from the pirate.

Hook continued to look and listen to the sounds. Before he could focus, he heard a loud screeching coming from the skies. He looked up quickly and then rushed to grab his younger sons. Picking Tucker up in his arms and pulling Willy and Blake close to him he continued to watch the creatures fly by in the sky with fearful eyes.

"What are those things?" Tucker asked as he pointed to one of them.

He continued to look up with nervousness, hoping that these things weren't there to collect him and his sons and take them to _her_. He answered his curious son. "They are her minions."

"Whose?" Blake asked noticing the fear on his father's face.

"To the evil witch in this land, Ethelinda. Snake of a woman." He looked down at the boy.

"You know her?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Hook nodded before looking back to the skies.

"We are not in the Enchanted Forest. Are we?" Blake looked at him with worry. He could tell by the way Hook continued to ignore the question, that something had gone wrong.

"No, my boy. I'm afraid we are in a much worse place. A place I truly wished I'd never have to return to."

* * *

**Mwahahahaha evil cliffhanger. So my curious readers, have any of you figured out the land that I sent them to? I tried giving subtle hints, but I also don't want to give it away just yet.**

**More shall be revealed in… the sequel. Hehe. Considering we are no longer in Neverland and are now going to explore this new land (which shall not be named until the sequel is posted) I thought it'd be best to have a sequel rather than continued in a story that is titled "Off to Neverland." Granted the title of the sequel will reveal the new land right away. I hope you are excited to read about this adventure. **

**And don't despair about the fact that HQ is still separated in the present day. Hook mentioned that he'd been there before, that he had a past with Regina that we are unaware of, that this is where they had actually met for the first time. Perhaps… we will delve into that past as well.**

**You will better understand the origin of that locket, their past and the land they have entered very soon. I shall post a small author's note to this story once I post the first chapter and reveal the title to you all. I really hope you're all as excited about this as I am, cause I have some really fun twists, romance and adventures prepared for you all. **

**3 ouatevilregal8**


	17. Author's Note

**Hey there Oncers and Hookedqueen shippers. I know you've been waiting a while for this and here it is. The sequel to Off To Neverland:**

**Off To See The Wizard**

**You can now find it on my profile. Please enjoy and review! I am really excited to be writing this story and continued where I left off in my other one. Hoping you all like it! Enjoy!**


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